Schools

Board of Ed Updated On Bond Project

Plans for the Riverhead school district include a "library of the future."

Nine months after the public improvements bond that will upgrade infrastructure at all the buildings in the the board of education got an update on progress and a timeline at Wednesday night's annual organizational meeting.

Larry Salvesen from BBS Architects said his group had met with staff to fine tune detals of the plans. The Phillips Avenue School, he said, just received state approval for architectual and mechanical review; the plan is to go out to bid and break ground this summer.

"Things have been progressing nicely with all of our buildings," he said.

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Salvesen gave an update on progress with high school plans, going though renderings classroom by classroom.

Minor changes since the original plans have been made, after speaking with district staff members, such as a new location for the ROTC room, which was swapped with a computer room that is better served at the front of the building, Salvesen said.

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A "library of the future" is planned, Salvesen said, designed to meet new demands as the library, traditionally home to written texts which are "falling by the wayside," will now be home to over 90 computers for an evolving library experience. He added that in a nod to tradition, there will be room for 3000 additional volumes in the new space, bringing the total number of books to 18,500.

Other new plans for the future include the possible development of a marching band, Salvesen said.

The school's auditorium will be spruced up with new seats and flooring; a study of acoustics is currently ongoing.

While the timeline is a bit behind schedule, with work on the Phillips Avenue Elementary School beginning later than anticipated because the state took longer than expected to approve the project -- Aquebogue and Riley Avenue Elementary schools are also lagging behind -- the originally expected completion dates are expected to be met.

High school plans are proceeding on schedule and unchanged.

Work will begin first on the three elementary schools, beginning with the Phillips Avenue Elementary School, with Aquebogue and Riley Avenue elementary schools following -- no work will be done on the Aquebogue and Riley Avenue schools this summer but exterior work is expected to begin in fall --  and plans for the high school are expected to be submitted in September. Construction on the Pulaski Street, Roanoake, and middle schools will follow, with all work expected to be wrapped up by 2015.

Welcoming New Faces

The Riverhead Board of Education welcomed new member Thomas Carson, who was sworn in Tuesday night. Susan Koukounas and Carson both ran unopposed for their seats. Also re-elected were BOE president Ann Cotton-DeGrasse and Greg Meyer as vice president. 

Coaching Questions

Members of the public asked the BOE if the district was losing coaches; the board said some interviews still needed to be conducted.


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