SWR tech and athletic track proposition set for vote this fall
Residents in the Shoreham-Wading River School District will vote this fall on a more than $1.6 million technology and athletic facilities proposition aimed at upgrades to district computers and repairs to the high school track, according to a resolution passed unanimously Tuesday night by the district’s school board.
The majority of the proposition would cover upgrades to the district’s aging wireless communications and computer systems, school officials said.
According to a presentation made before the board in June, 77 percent of classroom computers are more than five years old, with some more than 10 years old. These computers run obsolete versions of Windows — like Windows 95 or Windows XP — that are incompatible with the latest educational software, officials have said.
District computers are also “unable to reliably run critical instruction tools” like streaming video from the Web to teach students.
If approved by voters, the proposal would allow the district to purchase new computers that can both run the latest software and satisfy upcoming state regulations that will require students to use computers for state standardized testing.
The rest of the proposition would pay for resurfacing and repairs to the high school track, which has become cracked due to wear and tear.
At a previous school board meeting, members of the high school boys’ track team said that racing officials told them if the district didn’t resurface the track soon, they would no longer be allowed to hold meets at the high school because of safety concerns.
School officials said the repairs could become more expensive in the future if not addressed soon.
The total project would cost $1,642,000, according to the resolution, which adds the district would use prior year state aid money in the district’s reserve funds that can only be used for voter-approved capital improvement projects or tax mitigation. Taxes would remain at the same rate, the resolution states.
Taxpayers will go to the polls Oct. 2 to vote on the proposal.
