During the October Valley Central School District Board of Education Meeting, School Business Official Brad Conklin shared the current status update of the Smart Schools Bond Act funding for the district including what has already been instituted. Conklin shared he had been working in conjunction with Director of Technology Christopher Mohr and District Director of Security and Emergency Preparedness Stephen Ragni.

Smart Schools Phase 1 entailed security cameras and card swipe capabilities while Phase 2 was Promethean Smart Board technology across the district. District officials shared that Valley Central will be going back to complete part two of Phase 1. In addition, there is a remaining balance available to Valley Central under the Smart Schools funding. According to Conklin, “The remaining balance could be between $800,000 and a million dollars so there’s still a lot of money out there on the table for us to take advantage of.”

Phase 3 is set to get underway and a timeline for the projects includes a meeting with stakeholders including parents, teachers, students, community members and the leaders of non-public schools and other interested parties. In December, the Board will be asked to consider and approve the preliminary plan during a Board of Education meeting. Following approval by the Board, the plan will need to be posted on the district website, there will be a special meeting for a public hearing, Board of Education approval after January 12 and then submission to the State Education Department for review. It is anticipated that SED approval will be in April or later and over the summer the installation can begin with the project being completed by the fall.

Conklin went on to clarify acceptable items included under the Smart Schools Bond Act for security features if the district decides to go that route which can include electronic security systems, access control systems, door hardening and safety items for protective measures and other safety features such as window coatings.

During the meeting, Interim Superintendent Michael Bellarosa explained Smart Schools Bond Act funding faced a setback when learning switched to distance learning during the pandemic and additional technology needed to be purchased. Bellarosa went on to enthusiastically share that the high school and the middle school are wired to be able to use swipe cards to be able to access the buildings. The second phase of the project would be the remainder of the district having the same ability as Conklin mentioned. “I’m very encouraged that this could happen this year which I think would be a big step so they’re trying to head in that direction,” said Bellarosa.