18 Reasons to Vote No to Sale of George Washington School

18 Reasons to Vote No

On May 20, 2014, residents of Deer Park must VOTE NO on the referendum to sell George Washington School.

1.       Developers like Engle Bermun are entering communities across Long Island to snatch up much of the last remaining re-developable property belonging to school districts.  Residents in Mineola, Levittown, Lawrence, Woodmere, Seaford, and Baldwin understand that selling school buildings to developers could prove to be detriment to the entire community.  They are voting No.  We should too.

2.        School districts have been known to move students from one operational building to another to close one down.  Lincoln Memorial was included in the study.  And, it seems inevitable that a school near you will be next if this is allowed.  “We had three buildings with 200 or less kids,” said [Mineola] Superintendent Michael Nagler, noting it was not pragmatic for the district to maintain all of its buildings.

3.        The Deer Park School Board has not shown that it has attempted to find more stable tenants, additional tenants, the school was occupied at capacity, or that the rents are at market value since they have suggested that leasing the building is problematic due to delinquent rents.  “The Mineola district was fortunate to find tenants for both buildings immediately, renting one space to a private school, the Solomon Schechter Day School, and the other to Harbor Child Care, a day care facility. In addition to both buildings being used for their intended purposes, the renters provide an additional revenue stream for the [Mineola] district, Nagler said.”[1]

4.        The Deer Park district profits at a rate of $151, 275 from continued rental of the George Washington School building.  According to the April 11, 2014 presentation by the School Board[2], it costs $150,000 to maintain the building (including $6,000 a year in repair costs as stated in the budget), the rental value is $25, 106 per month and $301,275 per year.  This means that with stable tenants at capacity, funds could be allocated to repairs over a period of time.

5.       The Deer Park district has not provided the results of a study on future enrollment to ensure that this building is not sold when it will be needed for future population growth when property is likely to be scarce.  “My board and I both believe it’s premature to sell anything until you have a more stable picture of what enrollment will be,” he said, noting the scarcity of available property that will suit school districts’ potential future needs. The worst scenario, Nagler said, would be a district closing and then having to later reopen a building, reversing everything that had been accomplished, due to poor planning. 1

6.        The District has not provided information about preserving the school for complimentary usage or selling the property to a complimentary organization.  “Communities tend to more easily accept complementary-type uses for the building, such as day care centers, tutoring, administrative offices, religious organizations or nonprofit space.” 1

7.        The Deer Park School Board admittedly did not solicit bids from multiple parties or market the building to gain bidders from organizations that could utilize the building in a more complimentary way like in the Lawrence School District.  [Lawrence] school board president David Sussman, noting that the district has been marketing the building, said, "Given we had to sell, this is the best offer out there."[3]  The district has been marketing the property for the past couple of years.[4]

8.       Voters in communities across Long Island are voting No to developers and Yes to complimentary or similar use facilities.

“Voters in the Lawrence school district approved a referendum Monday to sell the shuttered No. 6 School in Woodmere to the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach for $8.5 million.”[5]

9.       Selling the school to a developer for senior citizen housing would reduce the amount of green space available to the entire community.  Green space reduces air pollution, reduces traffic, protects drinking water from pollutants.  “last year [Five Town] voters rejected a $12.5 million bid to put a medical facility on the site due to concerns about traffic and the loss of green space.”[6] 

10.    The Deer Park School Board has not made a case as to why more senior housing is needed in Deer Park.  It is proposing to sell it to Engle Berman for senior housing while senior housing exists just .6 miles away at Manor Park Apartments to the west, Brook View Commons to the east, Babylon Park Center to the northwest without allowing developers of single family detached dwellings or municipal recreation to bid.  A similar tract of land was purchased by a developer who developed fine single family homes on Nicholls Road.

11.     The population density of 150-250 units would urbanize our community.  “A developer wants to buy two former schools in Levittown to build a senior housing complex with as many as 247 homes…”[7] 

12.     Many school districts are trying to sell school buildings under a veil of secrecy.  “[Levittown] District officials would not identify the developer -- the leading bidder among several interested in the property -- who wants to build 160 to 247 units for residents 55 and older.”6 

13.    The School Board has not listed the school with a reputable real estate agent or proposed to do so like the Baldwin school Board who listed with Coldwell Banker Commercial.[8]  Doing so might increase the number bidders giving variety to the possibilities of land use and increase the sale price as in the case of Lindenhurst who received four offers from developers.[9]

14.    The School Board has not considered the environmental impact.  The George Washington School is directly adjacent to a Town of Babylon Sump at the corner of Lisa Drive and Bowling Lane.  This sump manages storm water, flooding and contamination.  Chapter 189 of the Town of Babylon Code states that “Land development activities and associated increases in site impervious cover often alter the hydrologic response of local watersheds and increase storm water runoff rates and volumes, flooding, stream channel erosion, or sediment transport and deposition. This storm water runoff contributes to increased quantities of water-borne pollutants, including siltation of aquatic habitat for fish and other desirable species.”  This could mean that our drinking water is in jeopardy and prone to nitrogen contamination.

15.    The following streets, now dead-ends or closed off to traffic could see increased traffic and may even become thoroughfares:  Crossway Drive, Bowling Lane, Wilson Avenue (East), Suburban Avenue (East).

16.   According to the 2010 census, Deer Park is home to 27,745 residents who are equally affected by the sale of George Washington School.

17.    Development of the community should be balanced.  No one side should shoulder the bulk of schools, industrial enterprise, malls, or senior citizen centers if we want to maintain the character of our community.

18.   While the Deer Park School District stated that it cost $150,000 to run the George Washington School, it did not state the total amount of revenues generated by rents of all tenants currently.

VOTE NO ON MAY 20, 2014

TO PREVENT THE SALE OF

GEORGE WASHINGTON SCHOOL

For more information email:  onedeerpark@gmail.com

[1] D’Andrea, Kristen.  Long Island Schools for Sale.  Long Island Business News (November 20, 2013) http://libn.com/2013/11/20/long-island-schools-for-sale/

[2] Deer Park Schools.  http://www.deerparkschools.org/Assets/documents/washington.pdf

[3] Tyrell, Joie.  Voters to decide on Woodmere school’s sale.  Newsday (February 8, 2014) http://www.newsday.com/long-island/education/voters-to-decide-on-woodmere-school-s-sale-1.7181796

[4] Tyrell, Joie.  March vote set on Lawrence school sale.  Newsday (February 23, 2014) http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/march-vote-set-on-lawrence-school-sale-1.4594963

[5] Harrison, Lauren P. and Tyrell, Joie.  Lawrence district voters OK school’s sale to academy.  Newsday (April 1, 2014) http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/lawrence-district-voters-ok-school-s-sale-to-academy-1.7566389

[6] Clark, Amy Sara.  Five Towns See Renewed Tensions Due to School Sale.  The Jewish Week (March 26, 2014) http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/new-york/five-towns-see-fresh-tensions-due-school-sale

[7] Whittle, Patrick.  Developer seeks Levittown school property.  Newsday. (February 6, 2013)

[8] Winzelberg, David. Baldwin school buildings for sale or lease.  Long Island Business News. (March 3, 2014) http://libn.com/2014/03/03/3-baldwin-school-buildings-for-sale-or-lease

[9] Bonilla, Denise M. Lindenhurst school district gets 4 developers’ offers for Bower Elementary. Newsday (February 9, 2014) http://www.newsday.com/long-island/education/lindenhurst-school-district-gets-4-developers-offers-fo...