Board adds community oversight to capital project

The Board of Education has approved policy revisions governing the district’s Change Order Board, allowing community members to be involved in cost reviews of a $52.9 million capital project.

The policy updates were approved at a Board of Education meeting last week. The board also increased the amount of change orders that can be authorized by the superintendent of schools, from $15,000 to $25,000.

“It started last year when the Facilities Committee started to review the Change Order Board policy to make sure that it would function well with a capital project this size,” district Superintendent Maria Rice said. “What they found was that it needed a lot of adjustments, but the key idea was they wanted to have a community oversight group to look at it before the (Board of Education) reviewed it and ap- proved the change orders.”

Under the revised policy, a community member will be appointed from the district’s Audit Committee and two community members from the district’s Facilities Committee. If a vacancy cannot be filled from those two committees, a community-at-large member who has “requisite skills” and abilities can be appointed.

“By having community members that have expertise in the area of facilities and operations in capital projects as well as from the Audit Committee with bookkeeping and numbers ... it gives another level of oversight to the full project,” Rice said.

The Change Order Board will also have three school board members and three administrators. The Board of Education will still be required to provide final approval for all change orders before contractors are paid.

District voters last March approved, 1,913 to 1,518, a $52.9 million renovation

plan for four district buildings that was previously defeated by 150 votes.

The plan calls for $2.48 million in improvements at Duzine Elementary School, $1.64 million at Lenape Elementary School, $25.38 mil-

lion at the middle school, and $13.4 million at the high school.

Officials plan to post project updates on the district web site at www.newpaltz.k12.ny.us/project.

“We have divided up the total $52.9 million project and we have 11 projects under the big capital project,” Rice said.

“Each of those different

projects are at different stages. Some of them have been submitted to the state Education Department — nine out of 11 have been submitted — five have been approved, and work has been started or is completed on some of those.”

Rice said roofing projects at each of the district buildings are expected to be completed this summer.