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Mamaroneck Overwhelmingly Approves $9.3 Million High School Renovations

MAMARONECK, N.Y.—Mamaroneck voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a $9.3 million bond to renovate the athletic facilities at Mamaroneck High School.

Mamaroneck Athletic Director Bari Suman shown giving a tour of antiquated locker room facilities last week. On Tuesday, Mamaroneck residents overwhelmingly approved a $9 million bond issue to upgrade physical education space at the high school.

Mamaroneck Athletic Director Bari Suman shown giving a tour of antiquated locker room facilities last week. On Tuesday, Mamaroneck residents overwhelmingly approved a $9 million bond issue to upgrade physical education space at the high school.

Photo Credit: Jon Craig

The vote’s outcome, with 988 in favor (87 percent) and 146 against (13 percent), will fund the high school to renovate its locker rooms, reconfigure its gym spaces, and redesign its physical education curriculum. The updates also will assure the school can serve as a more adequate community evacuation shelter in the event of emergency, with the addition of new showers, water fountains and storage areas, according to school officials.

“Clearly, the community saw that the work was necessary to maintain a safe, healthy environment for our students,” Superintendent Robert I. Shaps said. “This work has been deferred in three sets of previous building plans. It was time.”

The bond’s approval was a response to continued concerns that the high school’s facilities do not meet the needs of the more than 1,500 students enrolled in its physical education classes.

According to school district officials, the facilities have deficiencies across the board in ventilation, running water, plumbing and electrical work. Officials also said that the physical education curriculum is outdated and that gym lockers are rusted and too small for students’ backpacks.

“The lockers are the same as when I went to school here in the late 50s,” Board of Education Trustee Rusty Martin said prior to the vote. “They haven’t changed one bit.”

Due to other bonds being paid down, payment for the new plans will not cause a tax rate increase.

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