Trustees Support Plan to Construct Two New Classrooms at Woodhull
Huntington School Board members have voted 4-1 to include a plan to construct two new classrooms at Woodhull Intermediate School in a May capital reserve fund proposition. Trustees took the action after a presentation by Superintendent John J. Finello on the district’s current and future facility needs.
Trustees have been discussing how to address a shortage of space in the district’s schools. Over the past year, the district has commissioned studies on its long-term enrollment trends, current and future facility needs and the cost of possible solutions.
The work at Woodhull is estimated to cost $850,000. It would involve building one new classroom on each side of the building in areas that currently feature overhangs. Since the money for the work already exists in the district’s Capital Reserve Fund, there will be no need to borrow or pay interest. The district will receive a portion (up to 37 percent) of its expenditure back in the form of state aid.
The district’s architects previously developed plans to enclose the overhangs. Those plans will now be utilized. May’s capital reserve fund proposition will also include additional smaller items, as has been the case for many years. The district has opted to fund renovation and repair projects, whenever possible, by using existing funds generated through general budget savings instead of asking voters to approve a bond.
One Year Timeframe
The district hopes the new space at Woodhull will be available for use by January-February 2009.
Mr. Finello also recommended the district:
• Review special education district class placements with the goal of housing such classes where space is available and provide appropriate staffing and resources to accommodate the needs of the students assigned to each of the classes.
• Review the possibility and school placement of incoming (September 2008) district kindergarten bilingual classes for students speaking little or no English.
A proposal to immediately purchase a double modular classroom unit from another Suffolk district and transport and install it on the grounds of Woodhull, did not gain majority support from trustees. The plan was to use the portable structure for both building and district storage to free additional space within Woodhull and to have the units available for temporary classroom space if the district’s required it.
Looking Ahead
Moving forward, Mr. Finello recommended the district “complete a comprehensive facilities study with plans to reconfigure buildings and add instructional space to accommodate the educational program as it currently exists and as it will exist in the foreseeable future for all eight schools.”
The district’s architects will work with school officials to create a proposal scaled down from the architect’s earlier, and much larger, plan. “We do not believe a 50-60 million dollar bond proposition is practical,” Mr. Finello said.
Officials will present trustees with detailed plans and cost estimates as they become available, with a goal of completing the process by June 2008.
Mr. Finello also recommended that the district “consult and/or engage legal counsel by April 2008 to determine the final feasibility of acquiring the former Touro Law School. If the decision is made to acquire Touro, incorporate its use into the comprehensive facilities plan.”
Woodhull’s History
The site where Nathaniel Woodhull Elementary School was erected in 1966 was earlier considered for a junior high school. Instead, that school, which was eventually named after longtime Huntington School District administrator J. Taylor Finley, was built on Greenlawn Road.
Woodhull was built on a ten acre plot of land that was a southern neighbor to the old Huntington High School on Main Street. District officials thought the proximity of the two parcels might make for an interesting high school-junior high arrangement. Only a couple of years after the Woodhull Road land had been passed over as the site of the district’s third junior high school, an elementary school went up on the same piece of property.
Woodhull has been used for several grade configurations over the years, including as a stand alone kindergarten/administration center. During those years, it was known as the Woodhull Early Childhood Center. Today, the one story building serves students in grades 4-6.
According to a long range planning study completed by Western Suffolk BOCES last winter, Woodhull Intermediate School contains 21 self-contained instruction rooms and four support rooms used for computer instruction, choral music, reading and art. Smaller spaces are utilized for SEARCH/Math Olympiad, math, ESL, reading, special education, orchestra and band practice, speech therapy and psychological services.
The gym, which can be divided into two smaller areas, contains an auditorium allowing it to be used for drama productions and other performances. A large cafeteria provides space for breakfast and lunch programs and the library media center includes an extensive selection of books and computers.
Depending on the height of trees in the area, one can see far to the north while standing on Woodhull’s lower athletic field. At one time, it was possible to see Huntington Hospital and even all the way to the harbor/bay. Woodhull sits up high on the land and is bordered by many trees. The property contains ample parking. There are also two interior courtyard areas, including one that has been substantially improved and beautified.
Woodhull opened for the 1967-68 school year and immediately absorbed students from Roosevelt Elementary School, which was closed and demolished at that time as part of the Huntington Station Urban Renewal Project, making way for the construction of what is today Huntington Intermediate School.
According to the Western Suffolk BOCES planning study, Woodhull operated at 99 percent of its functional capacity of 519 students during the 2006-07 school year.
Today, Woodhull Principal Dr. Kenneth Card provides faculty, staff and students with educational leadership and guidance. The school has breezed through four decades and appears well prepared to continue serving the community for many years to come.
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