NEWBURGH – Newburgh Enlarged City School District Superintendent Dr. Roberto Padilla proposed a bond referendum that is aimed at improving educational and building infrastructure district-wide.
The school board must approve the plans before they are presented to district voters in the coming school year.
The preliminary bond project addresses buildings across the district including limited classroom space, renovations and building upgrades to infrastructure, ventilation in buildings, traffic and outdoor space reconfiguration, district branding and security enhancements to entry vestibules in building lobbies and hallways.
Included in the bond proposal is a Pre-K Center for the district’s youngest students, a new elementary school building and a high school complex and an athletic field house on the Newburgh Free Academy high school main campus.
The project would also impact the district’s Fine and Performing Arts Department with prospective improvements to classroom space for music and arts programs.
At the high school, the Career Technical Education Department continues to grow with the need for a devoted space for career and technical education programs allowing the department to offer more programs and increase the work in current program offerings, Padilla said.
“Students and staff in the Newburgh Enlarged City School District deserve a world class educational experience. Our scholars and teachers are at disadvantage if we do not provide them with future-ready classrooms and opportunities,” the superintendent said. “Currently, our district buildings are in need of an overhaul so that we can compete on a national and global scale.” He said his proposal bond project will allow the district “to move forward and become future-ready now.”
The 602 seniors in the Class of 2017 celebrated graduation on June 22
