Second Try Sees Montauk School District Get the Green Light for $34.8 Million Bond

Voters in Montauk cleared the way on Tuesday for a slew of renovations to the Montauk School by passing a pair of referendums — one for a $34.8 million bond, the other for a $2.9 million savings expenditure.

The bond was approved in a vote of 508-262; voters approved the $2.9 million savings proposal in a vote of 546-160 — both of which mean that turnout was about 100 voters higher than in the spring, when the community sunk a $38 million bond in a vote of 361-318 and the same $2.9 million savings expenditure in a vote of 342-334.

When that measure failed earlier this year, school district officials regrouped and ironed out the more modest $34.8 million plan, which they said was a better overall plan, even outside the cost reduction.

Now passed, district officials have the green light to pursue a string of renovations, which will entail a new gymnasium, HVAC upgrades and the removal of a set of portable classrooms — essentially, double-wide trailers — that date back to the 1970s and are at least 20 years past their expected lifespan.

Dangling over the heads of school officials for months has been a New York State grade that marked the school’s facilities as “unsatisfactory.” If the issues went unaddressed, the state could have opted to withhold aid, and the district could have been opened up to liability as a collateral consequence.

“It feels wonderful just to know that we can give the children of Montauk School the best possible environment for their education,” said Montauk School Superintendent Josh Odom.

School Board member Nick Finazzo pointed to the weight of that “unsatisfactory” grade. “We don’t have it off our shoulders yet, but we have the plan in place to get it off our shoulders and really create, like I said, the best possible place we could have for our community and for our students and for the future of Montauk,” he said.

The $2.9 million expenditure, which will come from savings, will not lead to any tax increases for Montauk taxpayers. The $34.8 million ask, though, was where the district had to do some convincing, as the 20-year bond will entail a tax hike of about $30 per month for the average homeowner — a reduction from $37 per month in the bond that went to ballots in the spring.

Besides creating a new gymnasium and replacing the portable classrooms, the bond calls for the greenhouse to be rebuilt in its current space, a creation of a new faculty room, the conversion of a multi-purpose room into two classrooms, and the installation of air conditioning in the current gymnasium, which will be converted into a designated music space.

Meanwhile, the savings expenditure will address aging, outdated HVAC systems that date to the mid-20th century and a handful of other issues.

Hoping to win voters over, Odom maintained a steady message throughout the fall: Montauk School is the only place in the hamlet that exclusively serves year-round residents — not the Montauk Playhouse and not the Montauk Library — so an investment in its future is a worthwhile one.

When a slideshow went dark due to technical difficulties in November, Odom gave the crowd at a workshop presentation an impromptu tour through the maze of portable classrooms, pointing to the issues that plague the decades-old buildings, including puddles that frequently seep through the floor. Murmurs from the crowd confirmed what had already been known: The space hadn’t changed in decades.

And the district also doubled down on a media blitz, bringing in outside help with social media and communications, stamping out misinformation online, and looking to get Odom out in the community to talk about the issues that the school faces.

“We learned from our last time that communication is what we needed to work on,” Odom said. “We worked very hard at that, and so did everyone in the community. The word really got out, and the people spoke loud and clear.”

Next will be the planning phases, and Odom said the community will continue to be involved in that conversation, which will see officials work out the nuts and bolts of the renovations before they send plans up to the state for approval.

Then the project will go to bid, and during a series of workshops in the weeks leading up to the vote, Odom said he hopes to see construction begin in advance of the school’s 100th anniversary in 2027, with completion ideally coming in 2028.

“It’s exciting, it’s very exciting,” said Finazzo, the School Board member. “Now comes a lot of hard work. Tonight, obviously, the community spoke pretty loud and clear, and now we get to go back to work.”