BY JEFF CHUDZINSKINorth Country This Week

MASSENA -- Another capital project is in the works for the Massena Central School District but before the project can proceed district residents will need to approve the final plans.

School officials say they hope the project will be approved next year for a vote on May 20, 2025.

In the meantime, the Facilities Committee has been working with King + King, the architectural firm hired earlier this year by the district, to begin planning the next capital project.

The previous capital project, which wrapped up last fall, was a three-phase, multi-year project costing $49.6 million. Voters approved the project by a 346-41 margin in Dec. 2021.

Along with hosting means with King + King, district officials hav also held a meeting with Megan Vanderbrook, senior project manager from King + King Architects, to identify the most important aspects of the upcoming project.

School officials are now going through an extensive review process before compiling a list of potential projects.

Once that process is complete, officials will finalize the potential project list compiled by the Facilities Committee, followed by a review of the cost estimates that King + King will compile.

One officials weigh all options, including the potential components of the capital project and the associated costs, the district will hold a public informational meeting before sending the project to a referendum.

According to Superintendent Ron Burke, the district has two non-instructional goals, the first being the capital project as a whole, with the second geared towards preparing to implement electric buses.

School officials approved a bus electrification study in July 2023, which utilized funds through the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) Clean Green School Initiative.

“We’ve done our study. Now we just have to figure out how to implement it,” Burke said.

Burke said New York State's mandate for district to switch to electric buses by 2035 is the primary reason the district is beginning preparations for implementation now.

"This is to prepare the plan for the eventual purchase of zero-emission buses and the installation of required facilities to power those buses,” he said. “We’re already underway certainly on both of those, probably a little bit further advanced for the electric bus component," he said.

Under the new law, school districts can only lease or purchase zero-emission vehicles for student transportation after July 1, 2027.

That deadline is not necessarily a guarantee, however, as districts are able to apply for a two-year delay in implementation. If successful, districts would then be required to lease or purchase zero-emission vehicles beginning July 1, 2029.