Board Approves Funding for Industrial Arts at Traughber

With time running out to capitalize on available bonding authority, the School Board on Monday night approved a host of capital projects across the district.

Perhaps the most controversial vote of the night came over spending $200,000 to purchase equipment and outfit classroom space for industrial arts classes at . Board President Bill Walsh and board members Laurie Pasteris, Alison Swanson and Brent Lightfoot all voted for the expenditure, while Mike Scaramuzzi, Dave Behrens and Lynn Cullick voted no.

Before the vote, Cullick said it’s imperative that the district look at deficiencies in core curriculum before tackling parity in electives classes like industrial arts. She said eighth-graders are not finishing their math textbooks during the school year, and issues like that need to be addressed.

Walsh said the board’s curriculum committee would study such issues.

, saying “Policy states we’re supposed to have the same classes in all the schools.”

Industrial art classes such as Industrial Education I and II, Industrial Technology, and Drafting/CAD are offered at Bednarcik, Plank and Thompson junior highs, while students at Traughber are offered computer technology classes like Introduction to Interactive Technologies, Hardware and Networking.

All four junior high schools offer technology classes such as Introduction to Technology Applications, Multi-Media Applications, Digital Imagery and Web Design.

District officials said the differences in electives offerings are due to facility or staffing issues.

Scaramuzzi said after the meeting he didn’t understand the vote.

“Our priorities should be core curriculum at this point instead of focusing on electives,” he said.

The board also took several other votes on capital projects Monday night. Some of the highlights include:

• Approval of construction of a new $2.7 million transportation center by a vote of 6-1, with Lightfoot voting no.
• Approval of $350,000 in renovations to the theater at , $175,000 for a fire alarm system and $1.4 million for roof reconstruction at the Oswego 308 Center. Lightfoot voted no.
• Approval of concrete and asphalt repair projects at , , Homestead, Lakewood Creek, , Southbury and The Wheatlands, Bednarcik, , and schools. Lightfoot and Pasteris voted no.
• Unanimous rejection of replacing the surface of the track at and adding an eighth lane. Board members agreed that the eighth lane could be added if and when a synthetic turf field is added to the stadium.
• Tabled a motion to approve the construction of a new operations and maintenance facility. Some board members said they would like to tour the facilities to survey the need for a new building. The new facility is projected to cost about $1.8 million.

The board has until its meeting Monday to decide on a final figure for a bond sale that would include the construction costs for the additions at both and .