OBSERVER Photos by Braden Carmen Fredonia Board of Education members Sheila Hahn, left, and Lisa Powell Fortna, right, listened to public comments at a recent public forum to discuss capital improvements to Fredonia’s facilities.

Fredonia Central School District department leaders are hoping to have their cake and eat it too with an upcoming capital project on the horizon.

Fredonia recently held an open forum to receive input from the community about potential capital improvements. The forum was not widely attended, with a crowd of fewer than 10 people in the audience, with more than half of the audience being district employees.

The feedback the district has received in recent weeks — both during the open forum and through a survey offered to residents — echoed what the district has heard for the past year. But there was one unique theme of the meeting that did stand out.

Fredonia Athletic Director Greg Lauer and Fredonia Band Director Andy Bennett stood together to address the Board of Education members in attendance.

“I thank you, kindly, for your attention to this very important project,” Bennett said to the Board at the beginning of his address. “I do not envy you with the decisions ahead.”

Bennett and Lauer offered support for each other’s area of expertise and urged the Board to propose a substantial capital project to address the needs of both areas.

As the topic of facilities upgrades has gained momentum over the past year, many in the community have viewed the two departments as opponents in the battle to secure funding to improve their spaces. Instead, Lauer and Bennett sat together at the same table at the forum, along with Fredonia Theater Director Ben Wendell and Junior Varsity Softball Coach Ed Schrantz.

While the other three seated at his table all previously came forward at public meetings to voice their opinions, Lauer waited until the recent open forum to publicly share his stance. “I probably could have come forward sooner, but I feel like enough people have expressed athletic-wise what we want, what the community wants, and what people of the community would like to see,” Lauer said.

Lauer has served the district for 19 years, both as a teacher and a boys basketball coach, to now serving as Assistant Principal of Fredonia High School and the District’s Athletic Director. In all that time, Lauer stated the District has not seen “any real improvements” to the football, baseball, softball and soccer fields, even with new baseball and softball dugouts, along with other minor upgrades in recent years.

“It isn’t doing the justice our students deserve,” Lauer said. “Our students deserve more in music and athletics. We have very successful teams; we have very successful music programs; and we have just continually fallen behind in terms of what our athletes and our music students deserve.”

While Lauer has an extensive athletic background as a three-sport athlete through high school in Clarence and onto a college basketball career at SUNY Fredonia, he also shared with the Board that he participated in chorus and band in high school, as well. Lauer values the importance of a school that supports both passions.

“Both of these programs deserve to have the facilities these kids deserve. I just ask that you put it out to the public to ask what level they are willing to spend to give these kids, finally, what they deserve,” Lauer said.

Schrantz echoed Lauer’s comments. He referenced that he is not just a softball coach, but also a parent of a successful musician. “We have the students who are not just doing band or out there giving softball a try. They are there to do as great a job as they possibly can. I think it is our duty to give them the facilities that match their desires that they have,” Schrantz said. “I defy you to find a better school that combines both of them. Go big or go home with this project.”

The open public meeting was called to offer the opportunity to the public to share their thoughts with the district, as several times over the past year, residents have addressed the Board during regular Board of Education meetings. Superintendent Dr. Brad Zilliox said, “One of the things that we’re really trying to do is involve the community – our parents, our faculty and staff – in this process. We’re trying to give multiple opportunities for people to engage.”

Zilliox noted the district has received 200 responses to a survey asking what the district’s needs are in the eyes of the residents. The needs highlighted throughout the responses, as expected, were new athletic fields; enhanced music spaces; and accessible playgrounds. Heating and cooling system improvements were also noted. Zilliox said the aforementioned themes “are coming through loud and clear.”

The district received its state-mandated Building Conditions Survey recently from Young and Wright Architectural, and after a lengthy presentation from their representatives, the Board discussed next steps to pinpoint the needs for Fredonia’s next substantial capital project.

In the weeks since Young and Wright’s presentation to the Board in late November, the District has allocated over $55,000 in additional funds to further evaluate items that were highlighted through the Building Conditions Survey. The district allocated $29,500 for in-depth roof scans of all district buildings; $23,000 for site surveys of the athletic fields at the main campus and the Orange Bowl; $1,700 for playground audits at both the main campus and the Wheelock campus; and $1,500 for structural reviews of other areas of concern discovered throughout the process. The additional service purchases are all state-aided at a reimbursement rate of 82.7%.

Amanda Tonelli, a Fredonia resident and parent, previously addressed the Board in support of athletic facilities improvements. She then attended another Board meeting, when Kristi Leone, the mother of Elliana Leone, a first grader at Fredonia Elementary School, spoke about the district’s playground accessibility issues for handicapped students. At the recent public forum, Tonelli asked the Board to consider immediate upgrades to make the district’s playgrounds accessible, rather than waiting for a major capital project.

“Is that really something that has to wait for a capital project? To me, it seems like that should be in an emergency fund as a situation that’s immediately remedied,” Tonelli said. “We shouldn’t have any students in the district who can’t play on the playground.”

Tonelli is a parent of both the music department and the athletic department, but instead highlighted the playground needs. “The playground situation, I feel like it would be a mistake to push that off until a capital project,” Tonelli said.

As previously stated by Zilliox and by Young and Wright, the District currently has approximately $300,000 in capital reserve funding available, which would cover a $5 million project without any additional impact to district taxpayers. Zilliox also recently noted, however, that in the coming months, the District is hoping to increase the capital reserve fund by approximately $100,000. For an increase of $5 million to a potential project, taxpayers would be asked to pay an increase of $11 per year for every $100,000 in assessed value, equalized, over 15 years.

“I will encourage you to continue advocating for as large of a project as possible. I think it would be almost impossible to do some of the things that we know are necessary for the safety of students with a project with no tax impact,” Bennett said.

As a resident of Fredonia, Bennett added, “I will tell you, as a taxpayer who will have to pay this for the next 15 years, I may not be thrilled about it, but after going to so many of these presentations, hearing all the needs our students have, I would gladly vote to support a large capital project that I know will keep our students safe and increase the quality of their experience.”

Darrin Paschke, High School Principal, added his support for every speaker who offered an opinion at the forum. He then added his own suggestion to explore additional space for hands-on educational programs, many of which the District currently relies on BOCES to provide, such as welding, auto mechanics, and extensive STEM courses.

“There’s nothing that I hate more than having to say, ‘We don’t have that here. You have to go somewhere else.’ As we look at all of the facilities that we have, those are things I’d also like to be considering, space for areas that are very important, very up and coming, and very relevant to the education of our students,” Paschke said.

Young and Wright will meet with the District again on Tuesday, with building administrators, buildings and grounds staff, and Lauer all planning to attend. The Board will then have a workshop meeting later that night at 6, to further discuss the issues at hand. The meeting will be open to the public, but public comments will not be entertained. The District is targeting December for a capital project vote.

Regarding a substantial project proposal, Bennett said, “I don’t envy you with the decision, but I hope you will give the community a chance to vote. If they vote on a large project and it doesn’t pass, I will absolutely respect the will of our neighbors and friends, but I really want to give them the chance.”

Noting that the situation is “tough” in that there are so many areas with strong arguments to be considered as priorities, Paschke is in agreement with the suggestion of a major project request.

“Schools that have gotten really great things for their kids have gone out with really big asks, and they have gotten them. I don’t want to be afraid to go out to our community with a big ask, because you know it’s a no if you don’t ask for it,” Paschke said.