When will the next phase of the Strong Schools Equal Strong Communities capital improvement project start? When will residents hear more about the 2025-26 district budget process? How are students being supported on a social and emotional level?

At Wednesday night’s Board of Education Workshop Meeting, trustees and residents were updated on three key areas of the district’s operations, with presentations on capital project progress, finances and the Office of School Engagement.

Triton Construction’s Kevin Sawyer and CPL Architects’ Stephanie Wisniewski offered a look at what construction work was completed over the summer and a revised timeline of when new work will begin. (You can read more on the summer construction in Superintendent’s Brief Vol. 6 Issue 10.)

“Hundreds of unit ventilators have been changed. Thousands of lights have been changed. We’ve completed over 140 bathroom renovations of various shapes and sizes throughout the district,” Sawyer said of the first three project phases.

The final pieces of Phase 3 of the project include unit ventilator replacements in the high school, HVAC work in the middle school, and the creation of elementary school innovation labs. The bidding process for the work begins Oct. 29. Construction is planned to begin in early 2025 during after-school hours, and continue through the summer.

“We’ve been doing a lot of infrastructure work over the past few years – boilers, and roofs, mechanical equipment, and things of that nature,” Sawyer said. “It’s not all that pretty but well-needed. Now with the innovation labs, we’re going to start seeing some bright, beautiful new spaces that are going to be great collaborative spaces for new programs that you’re going to be bringing in.”

Phase 4, he said, is being reviewed for approval by the state Education Department, with the hopes of beginning work this summer. Projects include auditorium renovations at the high and middle schools, creation of innovation labs in the high and middle schools, pool and locker room renovations in the middle school, renovation of the elevator at Clinton Elementary School and various mechanical upgrades.

The Jane Bolin Building project (see Superintendent’s Brief Vol. 5 Issue 65) construction is also slated to begin in the summer.

Phase 5 will include districtwide ceiling, flooring and window renovations and other site improvements. That is planned for summer 2026.

Sawyer and Wisniewski mentioned two factors that may impact those timelines – four school buildings are approaching the maximum cost allowance, which is the maximum the state allows a district to spend on a school in a five-year timeframe; and the possibility of paying to be part of the Education Department’s system for expediting site approvals.

The board plans to send a packet of follow-up questions to the firms in areas such as the auditorium work and what the maximum cost allowances may mean, with the intention of them delivering answers at an upcoming meeting.

Assistant Superintendent for Business Ken Silver and Executive Director of Business Services Margarita Lekaj provided a financial update, which included a timeline for how the budget process will work.

Silver showed the board early aspects of the 2025-26 budget and assured the board it would be kept updated.

“We’re going to try to have you involved in a number of aspects of this and start as early as we can,” he said.

Silver’s team plans to have the first draft of the budget complete by the end of the calendar year, with the intention of presenting to the board on Jan. 22. They will then give additional presentations, which will include revenue projections, on Feb 19 and March 19, before the board votes on approving the budget proposal April 22.

Lekaj said the office plans to send a memo on Nov. 15 to building and central office leadership seeking input on how the budget should be allocated. “Everybody’s voice will be heard,” she said.

The presentation included an overview of district finances, including that it has $3.3 million in cash on hand and $49 million invested in a “liquid asset fund,” Silver said. “We can get the money out anytime we need it.”

Lekaj shared the district’s bond rating has been upgraded from an A-minus to an A, which will result in  lower interest rate when borrowing in the future.

Da’Ron Wilson, executive director of school engagement, then provided an overview presentation on staffing and services provided by the Office of School Engagement.

The office’s staffing ranges from the assistant principals in charge of climate and culture in the secondary schools, to attendance caseworkers, crisis intervention specialists, social and emotional learning counselors, and others. Wilson detailed a variety of programs, like school-based mental health clinics, the Everyday Labs absenteeism intervention system, the BASE mental health platform and the Smart Social safe social media platform, which features resources for parents, educators and students.

Slides for each presentation and a video of the meeting is available through the Board of Education page on the district’s website.