Board of Education Meeting Recap: Architects Present Options for Facilities Improvements

Dear Pelham Community,

The Board of Education continued its consideration of plans to update and improve District facilities at its first meeting of the new year on January 8, 2025. The meeting, which included a presentation by representatives from KG&D Architects, provided important detail about different options the Board is considering as part of a school bond referendum to be considered by voters at a referendum. 

View the meeting video | See presentation slides

Discussion about facilities upgrades has been ongoing since the fall and the options presented at the meeting were previously reviewed by the Facilities/Finance Committees and at the Board’s December 18 work session. These options aim to address several strategic goals, including: 

• Maintain infrastructure in good working order
• Accommodate schools’ existing and projected enrollment
• Ensure schools have space to support instructional programs and 
• Consider energy efficient and sustainable solutions to enhance long-term value and resiliency.

As part of the January 8 discussion, the Board narrowed down the scope of projects to focus on core infrastructure, accessibility upgrades and a building expansion at Siwanoy, a building expansion at the MS/HS, air conditioning and geothermal heating and cooling options. More information and conceptual costs are as follows: 

Infrastructure - $54.3 million

• Replacement and repair of select roofs, masonry, windows and waterproofing to prevent water intrusion and deterioration
• Replacing end-of-life heating boilers and considering conversion from steam to hot water (hydronic) systems to increase efficiency

2 options for Siwanoy Accessibility & Building Expansion - $28-$35.5 million

• Upgrading accessibility at Siwanoy to ensure all six schools are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act
• Building an expansion at Siwanoy to facilitate the accessibility upgrades and better meet current and future enrollment/programmatic capacity, including larger classrooms, increased space for special education programs, more small group instructional space, adding a cafeteria and renovation of the original building

Central Air Conditioning - Up to $42.5 million based on scope

• Adding central air conditioning systems to schools that don't currently have it (Colonial, Prospect Hill, Siwanoy and PMHS) to improve temperatures in warmer months and improve air quality

Geothermal Heating/Cooling at Siwanoy, Prospect Hill and Secondary Campus - $10 million

• Upgrades to Ground Source Heat Pumps (geothermal) where feasible to create more efficient and environmentally friendly systems

2 options for High School/Middle School Expansion - $34.5-$44.3 million

• Building an expansion at the middle/high school to better meet current and future enrollment/programmatic capacity by adding classrooms, a cafeteria, creating new science labs and possibly relocating central office from rental space at the Sanborn Map Building to the MS/HS campus

An option to expand Colonial School costing $19 million was presented, however the Board prioritized upgrades to the heating system, masonry and roofing repairs as they are considered more urgent at this time. The Board is further exploring an expansion at Siwanoy due to its more acute concerns -- including its lack of accessibility and having the smallest square footage per student in the District.

A smaller expansion of Siwanoy that would have added an elevator without adding to the number of classrooms was also discussed, but is no longer being pursued because it would do little to improve the overall classroom space in the building or renovate the current spaces. Additionally, constructing a new Siwanoy School was considered infeasible as such a project would require re-locating all Siwanoy students to a temporary school for 2-3 years, resulting in an overall cost of approximately $90 million. 

The proposals that remain under consideration are conceptual and the District will work with KG&D to further refine these options and associated budgets over the coming weeks. The Board has also requested additional information about financing options to understand the tax impacts. It is important to note that the cost of these projects could be offset with approximately $65 million in existing debt that is being paid off over the next several years. 

In the coming weeks, the District will continue to engage the Pelham community and seek feedback that will be considered by the Board as it seeks to finalize a bond proposal.