East Meadow school bond vote: District seeks approval of $71.5M bond proposal
The East Meadow school district will ask residents Thursday to approve a $71.5 million bond proposal that would pay for safety upgrades, playground renovations and improvements to athletic and performing arts facilities.
If approved, the cost to the average homeowner would vary over the length of the 20-year bond. At its peak in 2034, the average homeowner would see their annual taxes rise by $31.86, according to a district presentation regarding the proposal. The district said after existing debt is paid off, “homeowners will receive a cost savings and see a decrease to their annual tax bill” beginning in 2037.
Residents can vote at their local elementary school building from 7 a.m. through 9 p.m. Thursday.
Some East Meadow athletic facilities have not been improved for several decades, according to the district.
“The current conditions of the fields are pretty similar to the fields I played on as a student-athlete in the East Meadow school district back in the 1980s,” Steven Anderson, a Woodland Middle School physical education teacher, said in a video released by the district. “The middle school football field is the one that I played on in 1983.”
Woodland Middle School, East Meadow High School and the W. T. Clarke combined middle and high school would receive new synthetic turf baseball and softball fields, as well as multi-purpose fields used for soccer, according to the district. A new football field with bleachers and an updated tennis court would be built at Woodland. The W.T. Clarke building would receive new bathrooms, football field lighting and scoreboards. Bathrooms, bleachers with a press box, concession stands, football field lighting, locker room upgrades and practice fields are proposed for East Meadow High School.
At the five elementary schools, the bond would cover upgrades to all playgrounds, “including the safety surface,” Superintendent Kenneth Rosner said in the district video.
“Special attention will be paid to Bowling Green Elementary School and Meadowbrook Elementary School, as many of our students with special needs attend those schools,” Rosner added. “We feel it’s appropriate for those students to have a sensory playground so they can enjoy their recess and afterschool time with their friends.”
The bond proposal also includes money for safety upgrades at each school building, according to the district. New entrance vestibules, classroom door handles and locks, and fire alarm systems would be installed districtwide.
The HVAC, lighting and sound systems in the auditoriums that are used as performing arts spaces at Woodland Middle School, East Meadow High School and the W. T. Clarke building would also be upgraded.
The bond would also cover the replacement of the boiler system at George McVey Elementary School.
If voters approve the bond and the state approves the various projects, renovations could begin this summer and tentatively be completed by the summer of 2027, Rosner told Newsday in an email via a spokesperson.
