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Stu Lowe, capital projects contractor and School District Director of Facilities Earl Smeal provided a capital projects update.
The ABFOA ("A Breath of Fresh Air") Projects are on time and within budget. The projects include:
- Secure vestibules to be completed by August 2025)
- Branding at Niagara Falls High School Fire Doors (on the first and second floors)
- Bloneva Bond Greenhouse – finishing the work on the inside remains
- Gaskill and LaSalle HVAC Upgrades
- New Electrical Services at Gaskill and LaSalle Prep Schools are nearly complete
- Niagara Falls High School (NFHS) Walk of Fame – plaques ready to be placed
- New boilers at the Community Education Center (CEC) and Cataract Elementary
- Gaskill Prep – boiler upgrade
The capital project work that remains includes (all work will be completed by the start of the 2025 – 2026 school year):
- Vestibules at Hyde Park Elementary, Maple Avenue Elementary, LaSalle Elementary, GJ Mann Elementary, and Niagara Falls High School
- Electrical services completion work at Gaskill and LaSalle Prep Schools has started, with estimated completion by the end of May 2025
- HVAC start-up and commissioning at Gaskill and LaSalle: Equipment start-ups and commissioning have begun; the remaining systems are waiting for new power feeds to be completed
- Greenhouse at Bloneva Bond: finish work, doors, and hardware remain, with completion expected early to mid-May 2025
- Walk of Fame at Niagara Falls High School: stainless steel needs to be placed, and painting is needed
- Stainless steel plaque placement
- Commissioning of cameras, security, and fire alarms
Director of Facilities Smeal explained that the district will have a new, faster alarm system as hard wiring is no longer reliable. All district alarms will go through to a call center, which is the same one the security alarms go through. One call center will handle all calls. Nuisance Alarms will be in place that will sound if a door is propped open for more than 30 seconds.
2025 -2026 School District Budget
Superintendent Laurrie presented a final iteration of the 2025 – 2026 budget. The board will vote on the superintendent's recommended $202,840,136 spending plan. The tax levy will not increase.
The only figure that could increase is the Foundation Aid. If there is an increase, fewer reserve funds will be used.
The use of the following reserves has eliminated the gap:
WORKERS COMPENSATION $250,000
EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT $450,000
TEACHER RETIREMENT $850,000
EBLARS $600,000
USE OF FUND BALANCE $1,614,241
The district will consider an exchange with the community regarding the proposed state cell phone ban in schools and may schedule a school town hall meeting. The expense incurred should the cellphone ban become law could be the cost of phone pouches to implement such a ban.
The board will vote on the property tax report card next week.
Superintendent's Report
Our annual Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King celebration will be held on Tuesday, April 8, at Bond Primary School at 6 p.m. This year's guest speaker is Lisa McNair. Her sister was killed in the Birmingham, Alabama, church bombings. We will honor NFHS student Julissa Hernandez with a young adult civil rights award, Ms. Karen Howard with the Tiffany Nalls Ford Award for Community Service, and Mr. Eric Fields Sr. with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Award Civil Rights Award.
On April 8, 2025, a group of students will travel to the Maryland area to tour Historically Black Colleges and Universities; Board of Education Member `Earl Bass will join them.
NFHS will host a PTECH Pathway Choice Night for grade eight students on April 9, 2025.
Foreign language high school students are on a trip to London, England.
Grade nine students at North Tonawanda and Niagara Falls high schools participated in a program at the Culinary Institute to hear a speaker from Ingram Micro who discussed PTECH and jobs.
On Tuesday, April 7, 2025, students in grades three through eight began the NYS ELA assessment, which will be administered over two to three days. Mr. Laurrie wishes them well and is confident that they will do fine.
The next meeting of the Niagara Falls City School District Board of Education is scheduled for Thursday, April 10, 2025 at the district administration building, 630 66th Street at 5:30 p.m.
