By Staff

Dec. 20, 2017:   On December 5, voters in the Tuckahoe Union Free School District rejected a $20.5 million bond proposition with a vote of 411 yes votes and 447 no votes.

Information on the school district's website explains that the proposed capital project was to address the issues of "growing enrollment," "21st-century learning," and "infrastructure and security upgrades."

Seventy percent of the work was to be done at the William E. Cottle School, the district's elementary school, "in response to surging enrollment." The work was to include eight additional classrooms, a renovated and expanded cafeteria, reconstruction of a gymnasium, a renovated and expanded library, STEAM classrooms, playfield upgrades, and security enhancements at entry.

The work at the middle school/high school building was to address the need for infrastructure updates, such as boiler and turf replacements, and was to include security enhancements at entry and renovations to the library and cafeteria. 

The estimated total cost was $20,531,500, the proposed finance period was 16 years, estimated state aid was 23.8%, and the estimated average homeowner cost was $598 a year on a home with an assessed value of $8,500 (note that Tuckahoe homes are not assessed at market value). The work was projected to start in the summer of 2018 and to be completed by the fall of 2020.

The website says that in the event of a defeat, "The Board will still have the responsibility to address the needs for additional instructional spaces at William E. Cottle School and district-wide infrastructure. Already the district has been forced to suspend its Universal Pre-K program as a result of space constraints."

Pictured here:  Tuckahoe Middle School.

Photo by N. Bower