Rotolo gym floor on hold for now

BATAVIA -- The Batavia School Board tabled a vote this week on a proposal to install a wood floor in Rotolo Middle School's auxiliary gym after board member Joseph Purpura questioned whether the district should spend bond referendum dollars on a project not listed in the original plans.

"My problem is that we're using referendum money for something besides what was specifically stated in the referendum," he said.

In April 2007, voters approved a $75 million bond issue to build additions to Rotolo, Gustafson Elementary and Batavia High School, as well as repair and upgrade other elementary schools. Though the Rotolo project included a new gym with a wood floor, it did not include changes to the original gym.

The low-profile maple floor administrators are proposing to lay in the gym would cost $49,900. After a $24,000 donation from Batavia Youth Basketball and a $12,000 donation from the Batavia Boosters Club, the district's cost would be $13,900. The district would front $8,000 of the BYB donation, which the BYB would pay over three years, said Building and Grounds Director Pat Browne.

The wood floor would enable the BYB and other youth sports groups to use the gym for competitions, said School Superintendent Jack Barshinger.

"It's a cost-benefit situation," Barshinger said. "We're trying to increase gym capacity at the middle school. I believe it meets the guidelines (set by) the referendum, and I'm certain it meets the legal scope of the referendum."

Administrators also justified the extra expense by noting that the Rotolo addition came in $515,000 under budget and that the district could take its $13,900 share of the floor cost from that surplus.

Purpura countered that other projects funded by the referendum have come in "substantially" over budget, and that any savings from the Rotolo addition should be applied to extra costs incurred by those projects.

"We are hundreds of thousands of dollars over budget on the elementary school projects," said Purpura. "Given the district's current financial state, I don't see how we can justify spending money on something new."

Other board members said they didn't want to turn down an upgrade that community groups wanted strongly enough to help pay for.

"I think it would be a shame to turn down outside groups offering to support something that's good for the kids," said board member Matthew Winkle. "When you break down (the district's share of the cost) over thousands of kids, it's pennies per kid. Anytime we can get a wood gym floor that's worth a lot more for that, it would be a shame to turn it down."

The proposal is expected to be on the Nov. 3 meeting agenda.