The Rush-Henrietta Central School District is prepared to present to the community the third and final phase of the district’s Facility Renovations Plan, which was created in 2000. The Phase III project is designed to improve the Senior High School campus. The proposal calls for the creation of new physical education space – including a modern gymnasium and fitness center to support physical education, renovation of many athletic fields, and allows for the creation of eight additional classrooms to support academic achievement.

The district has scaled back the original plans for this project from several years ago, reducing the cost from $32 million to $14 million. Consistent with Rush-Henrietta’s philosophy to save money ahead of time, the district has the required combination of reserve funds and state building aid necessary to pay for the Phase III Facility Renovations Plan.

No. The Phase III project will not affect the tax rate. The funds required to pay for the project have been set aside during the past five years in anticipation of pursuing these improvements at the high school at the right time. 

We realize this is not the ideal time to present a project to the community. However, a window of opportunity exists that allows Rush-Henrietta to expend the savings it has set aside specifically for this project and at the same time benefit from state aid that will not be available if the project is pursued later. Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo has advocated for changes in state building aid rules. If less building aid is available in the future, it would make the Phase III project significantly more expensive, perhaps preventing it from happening. 

The state will reimburse Rush-Henrietta for 65 percent of the project cost. This means the district will be reimbursed for $9.1 million, reducing the district's share of the project from $14 million to $4.9 million. The state will reimburse Rush-Henrietta by providing payments of $600,000 each year for 15 years. 

No. Once funds are placed into reserves, it becomes very difficult, because of state legal requirements, to access them for operating expenses. The funds have been saved and designated for identified capital needs and that is what the Board of Education proposes to use them for. The board's intent is to not borrow any funds but to use current reserves that have been funded during the past few years to support our capital infrastructure needs.  

State aid is paid for by us as state taxpayers. Just as we are helping to pay for all of the other school, town, and county projects the state supports, we are now seeking support for our community and the Rush-Henrietta Central School District. We foresee a time when the state will be drastically reducing capital funding, so the district is trying to maximize support from the state.

Within the state budget is a line item for school district building aid where the annual payments to schools are budgeted. This line is a net of older projects expiring so no more state payments are necessary, current payments due for past projects within the 15-year payment schedule, and new payments for projects approved this year. The state takes a look at this budget line item and changes the terms of state aid so their obligations match their budgeted amounts. Therefore, if school districts build capital projects that qualify for more state aid than the legislature's budget, the state will revise the aid rules to reduce the aid amounts for future projects. In effect, if the state wants to limit the growth in this line item for building aid they will reduce the proportion of state aid for future projects so they live within their budget (i.e., building aid rate changes are prospective rather than retrospective). Therefore, it is our understanding that if we move forward with this project it will not increase the state's debt load.  Instead, we will secure a portion of the aid that the state budgets in future years for capital projects. 

Yes, with voter approval prior to April 1. Under 2010-11 building aid rules, 65 percent of the project cost will be paid back to the district during the next 15 years. However, voter approval after April 1 would subject the district to new building aid rules, which have not been established. At this time, we are projecting less building aid in the state's 2011-12 budget. For this reason, we are also projecting a lower building aid rate (less than 65 percent) for our project if it is authorized after April 1. The district’s financial advisors project a loss of at least $2 million of building aid for this project if we wait.

If this were the case, Rush-Henrietta would not qualify for building aid because there would be no capital expenditures. In turn, the state would not be required to budget for district building aid payments ($600,000 for the next 15 years). This could mean that the state would budget less for building aid in future years, but this is not likely. Instead, it is likely that if we don't move forward with this project building aid rates for future projects from other districts will be aided a bit higher than they would otherwise. In other words, if our voters don't approve the Phase III project because of concern over the state's precarious finances when the state sets their building aid budget at their desired target, the state will be able to allow future projects from other districts a bit more aid because they won't have the obligation from Rush-Henrietta. Conversely, if our voters approve the project, it won't make the state borrow more or budget more than they otherwise would, it will mean that the state would offer a bit less aid on future projects from other districts.

The new addition to the Senior High School will be energy-efficient but we do not have plans to apply for LEED certification. As part of the project, the school district intends to use:

• T8 or T5 high-output fluorescent lights for lighting in the gymnasium, which should use less energy than traditional lighting.

• Light wells and translucent panels for daylight harvesting, meaning that daylight will be used as much as possible to limit the need for indoor lighting.

• Solar walls will be used for tempering air for the HVAC system, with the goal being to reduce the cost of heating.

As we get further into the design phase, we should be able to provide more examples of the energy-efficiency built into this project.

Rush-Henrietta will present the Phase III Facility Renovations Plan to eligible voters from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday, February 15, 2011, at the Transportation and Operations Center, 1133 Lehigh Station Road. 

Yes, there will be incremental operating costs - for utilities, for example - when we add square footage as a result of the project. Our preliminary rough estimate is that operating costs will increase less than $20,000 per year. This will be offset by the $600,000 in state aid that the district will receive each year for 15 years.

Phase I, approved by the community in 2001, authorized construction of the Transportation and Operations Center. Phase II, approved by the community in 2005, authorized renovations to Burger Middle School, Roth Middle School, the Senior High School parking lot, and the Parker Administration Building. All work is completed and has been well received by the community.