Copiague schools may have to cut back on repairs

The rejection of a $15.1 million Copiague school repair bond by voters last week may force officials to scale down what would have been a comprehensive repair and expansion project for the district's aging buildings.

While voters did approve a $42.9 million bond funding the most urgent work, the district may now have to do piecemeal repairs instead of an overhaul on a variety of items, including floors, lighting and heating systems that are six to 10 years away from the end of their life spans, Superintendent Kathleen Bannon said.

Another possibility is that some of the work to be funded under the bond that did pass could bid under projected cost, she said, allowing officials to redirect the savings. That work will go out to bid in the coming year, pending approval from the New York State Education Department.

Bannon did not rule out tax increases to pay for some of the repairs, though she said officials want to avoid that if possible. She did rule out any further bond referendums in the near term, saying that taxpayers had sent a message by their votes last week: "They see the immediate need, and this is what they're able to handle."

With state aid funding about three-quarters of the work, yearly property taxes will increase $131.76 over the 15-year term of the bond for a typical home assessed at $3,600 and paying school taxes of $4,922, according to district figures.