Mayfield residents approve $7.1 million capital project

Mayfield Central School District residents on Tuesday approved a $7.1 million capital improvement project with a vote of 85 to 51.

A majority of the items included in the capital improvement project address issues with aging infrastructure that building conditions surveys have identified at both school buildings and the bus garage. This includes replacing a majority of the windows at the Junior-Senior High School and replacing the outdated fire alarm systems at both school buildings.

In addition to those maintenance items, the project includes some classroom renovations that align with the district’s goals of preparing students for career and college by creating spaces for the expansion of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) programming.

“I want to thank everyone who took the time to come out and vote today,” Superintendent Christopher Harper said. “The support of the community is crucial to making sure we maintain the health of our school buildings. Moving this project forward helps us ensure Mayfield has school facilities that are safe, secure and optimized for student learning.”

Now that voters have approved the project plans, the district will move into the design phase early in 2022. When complete, those designs will be submitted to the New York State Education Department for approval.

Bids for the work will likely go out in the fall of 2022. Construction could start as early as the spring of 2023 with the bulk of the work happening that summer, which should minimize any disruptions for students and teachers.

All the improvements are expected to be complete by the end of the 2023-24 school year.

The last time the Mayfield schools underwent extensive improvements was following a capital project vote in 2016.