Schoharie to Fast Track Elementary Building Project Will Relocate Gym, Cafeteria, Library

SCHOHARIE - The state approval process may have been delayed but that will not postpone the completion of the huge Schoharie elementary school capital building project.

The project will completely transform the interior of the elementary school, constructing a new and much larger gym and cafeteria, and a new, relocated library/media center.

"We have planned for an aggressive timeline," SCS Superintendent David Blanchard said Friday. The $19 million project will be put out to bid by August 5 and bids should be ready to be voted on by board members at their August meeting, Superintendent Blanchard told board members Thursday evening.

"We're super excited."

On Friday, he added, "We are looking for substantial completion of the project by September 2025 and final closeout paperwork on the project sent in to SED (State Education Department) by November 1, 2025."

Once the bids are approved, work will begin by the end of this summer. The current high school parking lot and the lot outside the gym will be set up as a construction site by the time school opens, Superintendent Blanchard said.

Parents and students will be informed on what to expect when school starts in September.

"It will be very challenging at time with students in the building," Superintendent Blanchard added. "We're trying very hard to make it work...It'll be a challenge to pull it off."

He noted that all contractors will vetted through the Raptor system, the Superintendent noted. The Raptor system identifies individuals who may be sex offenders.  It runs each person's ID through the sex offender registry.

When completed, the construction would combine the current "1976" gym and elementary school cafeteria into a much larger gym with a stage at one end, move the cafeteria into the current elementary school library, and move the library to the current "1952" gym.  In addition, classrooms will be facelifted and painted, bathrooms will be upgraded and there will be plumbing upgrades in the 1952 wing, Superintendent Blanchard noted.

In January, it appeared that a staffing problem at the State Education Department was going to postpone the project.

The plans for phase 2 of the district's $25.9 million building project was submitted to SED for review in December. At that time, the expected waiting time for approval was six weeks to three months, but now, citing staffing issues, SED estimates the waiting time for approval at three to six months.

The project was approved by voters in May 2022. The project does not require any new local taxpayer funds as state aid and the current building reserve will cover the costs.