Sherman School Board members made one final presentation regarding a proposed building project at theirs regular meeting Monday. The proposition goes before the public for a vote today. Photo by David Prenatt

SHERMAN — Even in the “eleventh hour,” before the public vote, Sherman Central School District administration and Board of Education members strove to present the case for two proposed capital improvement projects.

Board members held their regular meeting Monday in the school auditorium in order to accommodate area residents who had questions regarding proposition 1 and 2, which will be placed before voters from noon-9 p.m. today.

Proposition 1 is based on the building condition survey and deals with existing structures and the need for repairs, the largest of which will be a new roof. It is expected to cost $3.6 million, and increase the tax levy by .067 percent.

Proposition 2, which can only pass if Proposition 1 is accepted, involves new construction, including a new gymnasium, two classrooms, and a secure entrance at the back of the building. It is expected to cost $2.2 million.

If both propositions pass, the anticipated cost will be $5.8 million and will result in an anticipated tax levy increase of 5.17 percent.

A public hearing was held Dec. 10, and District Superintendent Michael Ginestre has made presentations on the propositions at several municipal meetings. About twenty people attended Monday’s meeting to hear further explanation of the projects and to present their concerns to the board.

Board member and Sherman Mayor Coleen Meeder explained that Sherman is the only district that must operate with one gymnasium. Because of New York state requirements that each student must have at least 40 minutes of physical education per day, the entire school schedule has to be built around the gymnasium schedule, she said.

Meeder, who spoke mainly about Proposition 2, emphasized that the proposed construction is necessary to open up the academic schedule, which is very limited because of the state’s requirements for physical education.

“This is not so much about building a gym, as building curriculum,” Meeder said. “This is about the gym, but it is so not at all about the gym.”

Meeder touched on seven factors in order of importance that go into determining the school schedule. First, are the fixed outside factors, such as BOCES and CTE. After that, comes the necessity factor of lunch for everyone in the building. The third factor is the state requirement for physical education, followed by state requirements for courses in pre-K through grade 12 that share instructors, such as music.

After that are the core class requirements in such areas as ELA, math and science, followed by electives that students might choose, and, finally, special education needs.

With all this in mind, there are four schedules that need to be coordinated into the main schedule, Meeder said. The bell schedule, which mainly impacts high school and middle school students, the teacher schedule, the grade schedule, and individual student schedules must all fit, she said.

“Basically, it’s like a massive Rubik’s cube and any time you change one block, it impacts all the others,” Meeder said.

Meeder also reviewed the impact propositions 1 and 2 will have on school taxes, and along with Ginestre and members of the board, explained why suggested remedies to the gymnasium crisis are not workable.

There are eight taxing entities involved, Meeder said. These include Sherman town and village, Mina, Clymer, French Creek, Ripley, Westfield, North Harmony and the town of Chautauqua, she said. Everyone needs to understand that there are critical benefits to growth, including increased curriculum opportunities for all.

Ginestre noted that the current gym is 9,200 square feet and the proposed gym would be between 3,800 and 3,900 square feet. New York state is aware that Sherman Central School is short, but there is no funding available, Ginestre said.

The price of $5.8 million is not just for the contractors. That number should take everything into account, Meeder said. When asked about the possibility of the project going over budget, Ginestre said “by law, it has to stay at $5.8 million.”