Five schools, $55.4 million and nearly four years of construction to date - the Rome City School District capital projects are no small feat.
The district currently has two projects underway: A $30 million effort to renovate four of the six elementary schools and a $25.4 million project to renovate Lyndon H. Strough Middle School.
The district will be reimbursed 97.8 percent by the state for both.
Though the projects are under or on budget, the process itself is complicated and involves balancing the construction along with academics.
?It is a commitment of resources and time,? said district Superintendent Jeffrey Simons. ?We've got a responsibility to make sure students are growing and learning, as well as fix the facilities.?
The capital projects involve renovating each building to make it up-to-date with education, environmental and handicap accessibility standards.
The district has successfully renovated three of the elementary schools and is in the midst of working on Louis V. Denti Elementary School.
But when it comes to Strough, there have been problems.
The plans for the school were expected to be approved by the state Education Department in March, so the district could go out to bid and then start construction this summer.
Due to a high number of projects, Strough Middle School is 300th on the list, Simons said.
?It doesn't look like at this point it will be approved until April,? he said.
The delay will push the project and the last school, John E. Joy Elementary, back a year.
The new buildings will include handicap accessibility and technology upgrades, such as Smartboards in every classroom.
Strough was designed for education in the 1950s, Simons said.
?The facility plan is important to support education changes since the 1950s,? he said. ?It's important to prepare our students for a career in the 21st century.?
Some projects already are complete: Francis Bellamy and Stokes Elementary schools as well as the administrative building, which houses pre-kindergarten, previously were renovated.
The economy has worked in favor of the district, creating more competitive bidding, said Paul Rabbia, district superintendent of Buildings and Grounds. That, along with good planning consultants, has kept the projects on budget.
In fact, the cost for Denti is about $1 million under the state-aid allotment, said Chris Crolius, principal and owner of March Architects and Planners, the company contracting with the district.
The goal is to complete each school in a 14-month period, Simons said.
The construction has had an effect on students and where they learn. Luckily, the district has a ?swing school.?
The former Fort Stanwix Elementary School was closed in 2008-09 due to declines in enrollment. The building was built in the 1930s and couldn't be renovated in a cost-effective way.
It now serves as place for the district to relocate students, which makes the renovation process go faster and smoother, Rabbia said.
Strough will be slightly more complicated, since its about 775 students won't fit at Fort Stanwix.
The district will shuffle some of the grades, with the seventh- and eighth-graders relocated to George R. Staley Upper Elementary School, the fifth-graders will remain at their elementary schools and sixth-graders will attend Fort Stanwix, Simons said.
In order to pull off the school flip, the district must push the project back a year after the delayed plan review.
Despite all the challenges, Simons said, ?Our top focus is academic achievement.?
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