Taking advantage of every opportunity

We always urge our students to take advantage of the many opportunities we have to offer here in the Watervliet City School District both academic (AP courses, internships, college credit courses and honors classes) and extracurricular (athletics, Odyssey of the Mind, Masterminds, drama, band and our many clubs offerings).

It is important that we as a community and a school district listen to our own advice and take advantage of the opportunities that are presented to us.

In June of this year we applied for and were awarded an amazing opportunity that could benefit students and the community for years to come. The district was awarded five million dollars in Quality School Construction Bonds. Very few other districts in the state qualify or were selected as eligible for these bonds. In a nutshell, these bonds — when combined with our State Building Aid rate of 93 percent — will allow the district to perform just over $18 million worth of construction on our two buildings without increasing local taxes. (Many of you may remember three years ago we were awarded similar Quality Zone Academy Bonds that accomplished the same thing).

We should not let this opportunity pass us by.

This month, the BOE will consider putting forth to the voters a proposition that would capitalize on this opportunity and address some of the facilities issues that were not addressed in our last project and make many upgrades to our buildings, grounds and athletic fields. (BOE meeting on September 20 at 7 pm in the WJSHS auditorium).

Some of the initial items under consideration include:

• replacing roofs and windows, and renovating classrooms and corridors at Watervliet Elementary School;


• renovating classrooms and corridors, and upgrading the auditorium at Watervliet Junior Senior High School; and


• constructing an eight-lane running track and a low-maintenance, all-weather artificial turf playing field to accommodate a variety of athletic offerings.

Some may ask, why don’t we use this five million dollars in our regular operating budget to maintain and improve programs and add personnel? Simply put, we can’t. The Quality School Construction Bonds is funding that can strictly be used for improving school facilities. We are not allowed to use state building aid or QSCB for any other purpose.

In the next few weeks you will be hearing much more about this proposal and as with the previous two projects, we will form a facilities task force to ensure that all community members will have a part in the planning of this new opportunity.