Tags Posts tagged with "2018-19 school year"

2018-19 school year

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Summer construction at Kings Park High School. Photo by Amanda Perelli

As Kings Park students return to school next week, the children and their parents may notice buildings across the district have gotten a face-lift.

Kings Park school district has utilized the summer to make progress on some of the more than $41 million in capital improvements approved under the December 2015 bond. 

At Kings Park High School, community members will find a newly resurfaced parking lot in the back of the building. New LED lighting and several dry wells have been installed to alleviate drainage issues to better accommodate students and staff, according to Superintendent Timothy Eagen.

The Kingsmen Kafe. Photo by Amanda Perelli

“The actual parking footprint or square footage will be about the same,” Eagen said. “We anticipate either about the same or a few additional spots, but not a substantial change.”                

On the athletic fields, the former Kingsmen Kafe has been demolished to make way for a modernized concession stand with bathrooms.

Over at William T. Rogers Middle School, both the boys and girls locker rooms have been fully renovated with clean and functional lockers. The district’s staff has also undertaken installation of a new irrigation system, that covers the football, lacrosse, soccer and ball fields to encourage softer, greener and more consistent grass coverage in the future, Eagen wrote in a community update letter.

The district was hoping to replace the entire roof of the middle school this summer, according to the superintendent, but construction was halted when asbestos tar was found under the upper portion of the building. Eagen said this caused the roof replacement to be pushed to next summer to allow for further planning and construction at a time without any students in the building. The roof of the lower portion of the building has been completed for the 2018-19 school year.

R.J.O. Intermediate School has had new fencing installed along the track and field area, in addition to the parking lot.

The R.J.O. track has been an issue for several years, and this grant will allow us to finally make
this area usable and safer for students and the community.”

— Timothy Eagen

The district has been awarded a $100,000 grant through the New York State Municipal Facilities Program, which they applied for last summer after learning about it from state Assemblyman Michael Fitzpatrick (R-St. James), according to Eagen. This money will help fund plans to resurface the intermediate school’s track next summer.

“The R.J.O. track has been an issue for several years, and this grant will allow us to finally make
this area usable and safer for students and the community,” Eagen said.

The building’s current cinder track will be replaced with an asphalt surface with lane lines The district anticipates that walkers will use this area more after it’s renovated.   

School officials are pressing forward with improvements to the district’s security including plans for security vestibules at each building. In order to bypass a lengthy six to 12 month review process, Eagen said the district will classify the vestibules as maintenance work or repairs, and construct them inside the existing buildings rather than as an exterior add-on feature. The district has set aside $100,000 for this work,
according to the superintendent, and the vestibules are expected to be completed this fall at both the high school and middle school.