Residents of the Jamesville-DeWitt Central School District recently approved a comprehensive capital project aimed at improving the facilities of district buildings.

The project is estimated to cost $12.1 million dollars and was approved by voters with a 352-47 vote, according to the school district’s website.

The Board of Education drafted the plans of the project based on the results of a survey of the district buildings conducted in 2015 by architects and engineers. The board also has had discussions with staff members before drafting the project.

The project will cover renovations made to the middle school, high school and Tecumseh, Jamesville and Moses Dewitt Elementary Schools.

Auditorium renovations, common space renovations of the high school and middle school, as well as heating, ventilation, air conditioning, electrical, fire alarm and smoke detection upgrades in all buildings are included in the project, according the district’s website. The Transportation Center will also be renovated as part of the project.

Of the project, 71.9 percent will be generated from state building aid, according to district officials.

“The Jamesville-Dewitt school district has a lot of community support, which is good for kids and teachers,” said Kelly Chandler-Olcott, associate dean for research in the School of Education at Syracuse University, regarding the majority of the votes being in favor of the project.

Mario Perez, an assistant professor in the School of Education, said it is critical for school districts such as Jamesville-Dewitt critical to have the support of the community.

But whether the project will lead to the students having a better learning experience in those schools would depend on what the extent of what the project covers, he added.

“For example, they’re making electrical upgrades, but are they going to have faster internet access in the buildings?” Perez said.

The kind of renovations that would be taking place at the Jamesville-DeWitt Central School District, he said, were important but not as necessary for learning as elements such as teacher quality and availability of resources.

Chandler-Olcott added that there are school funding and resource inequities rooted in the historically segregated residential and housing patterns, which she said are one of the biggest educational problems faced in this region. The issue, she said, is not going be addressed by the Jamesville-DeWitt project.

Chandler-Olcott offered this point of view not critiquing Jamesville-DeWitt Central School District’s leadership, but saying the district appeared to be making responsible choices for its student population, she said.

“But that won’t address the opportunity and achievement gaps between them and other high-needs districts in the region such as SCSD or Solvay Union Free School District, which is, to me, the far more compelling educational issue of our time,” Chandler-Olcott said.

Perez said the Jamesville-DeWitt capital project was a start in addressing the larger issues facing the school districts in and around Syracuse.

“Yet, this project would not be addressing the larger issues facing the city, as some issues had to be addressed in a larger scale,” he added.

Published on October 25, 2016 at 9:50 pm

Contact Deniz: dsahintu@syr.edu