Below are highlights of the District Facility Renewal and Preservation Committee’s list of prioritized building needs by school level. [The committee's full list of needs (with estimated costs) is also available on this web site.]

High school
The majority of the committee’s construction findings were for the high school ($62 million, or about half of the $115 million total). The committee suggested the high school be renovated rather than build a new school, because it would be less costly.

In the group’s board presentations, committee member Britnie Girigorie talked about life as a student at Niskayuna High School, including learning in classrooms that are 58 degrees, dodging garbage cans in the halls that catch water from the leaking roof, and being unable to find a quiet place to study because the media center is too crowded.

Needs cited by the committee include:
• shortage of classroom space and undersized classrooms; the committee found a need for 20-25 new classrooms (the committee suggested adding 100,000 square feet to the building, for a total of 300,000 square feet) to meet enrollment growth and instructional needs
• replacing the leaking roof, which was installed in 1988
• improving the parking lots, including reconfiguring of traffic patterns and additional lighting to ensure safety of students and other pedestrians
• enlarging the library, guidance offices, art rooms and academic resource centers (the committee noted that some teachers have taken arms off chairs to gain valuable space in the crowded office spaces)
• replacing the 1950s and 1960s plumbing and heating systems, which are inefficient, problematic and in some cases irreparable
• replacing inefficient windows and doors that don’t secure properly
• new synchronized clock system (many now do not work) and a reliable public address system that can be heard in all parts of the building

Middle schools
Niskayuna is widely regarded as a high-achieving
district with high-achieving students and a
community supportive of education, noted committee member and high school art teacher Melissa Kokosa in her presentation to the board. “It’s time that our buildings reflect these attributes,” she said.

Middle school needs cited by the committee include:
• adding an auditorium at Iroquois Middle School (the school does not have one)
• renovating athletic fields that have poor drainage and are uneven at Iroquois
• replacing inefficient windows and doors that don’t function properly at both middle schools (and doors that are not handicap-accessible)
• replacing the leaking roof at Van Antwerp Middle School (which is approaching its maximum useful life)
• adding an elevator at Van Antwerp to make the school (and the District Office) handicap-accessible
• replacing the inefficient and problematic heating system at Van Antwerp
• adding larger student lockers at Iroquois that provide enough room for students’ books and coats
• renovating science rooms (including plumbing) at Van Antwerp to improve safety

Elementary schools
Needs cited by the committee include:
• adding classrooms and small instructional spaces (such as for music practice and remedial reading classes) to meet enrollment and instructional needs
• upgrading heating and ventilation systems, to lower energy and maintenance costs, and make rooms more comfortable
• expanding libraries in four of the five elementary schools to relieve overcrowding
• upgrading all stages so they are handicap-accessible
• installing new exterior windows and doors (except at Rosendale Elementary School) that would be more efficient, reduce classroom glare and be handicap-accessible
• replacing old plumbing and bathrooms in all schools (all plumbing is now original, 50 or more years old), including bathrooms and water fountains that are not handicap-accessible
• improving parking lots, including installing additional exterior lights and different bus loop configurations to increase safety
• extending the sewer line at Glencliff Elementary School (the school is not connected to the town sewer system and now uses a septic tank)
• extending water lines at two schools to eliminate the need for flushing lines after three-day weekends
• enlarging the crowded computer labs, which do not meet the New York State Education Department’s recommendation for square footage
• adding an elevator at Hillside, to make that building completely handicap-accessible


to top