Dear Families,

We’re excited to announce that the Brighton Central School District is continuing its work toward the implementation of full-day kindergarten. After conducting research over the past two years, we feel now is the time to begin to formally plan a capital project. This is a significant, generational project and we want to keep you informed and involved throughout the process.

In 2013, the Board of Education authorized the Superintendent to explore the feasibility of a full-day kindergarten program. Three subcommittees were formed: Facilities, Instructional, and Parent Communications. In January 2014, each subcommittee presented their findings to the Board. The Board then authorized the Superintendent to develop an implementation plan for full-day kindergarten. Based on the plan, the District issued a public Request For Proposal for architectural and engineering firms to analyze an expansion at Council Rock Primary School versus a renovation and expansion at the Brookside School. After carefully weighing the pros and cons of each plan, the Superintendent recommended that the Board pursue the further development of the Brookside site. The overwhelming positive to Brookside is there would be no disruption to the academic program, as the District can transition students over when the building is ready. Additionally, the amount of available space at Brookside allows for more flexibility for future development and modification as our enrollment and student demands change. With the Board’s support, the District engaged an architectural and engineering firm to conduct pre-referendum analysis. This includes services such as: facilitating meetings and presentations, coordinating building aid analysis with the State Education Department, preparing renderings and floor plans, and conducting traffic impact, storm water, environmental, wetlands, and archeological studies.

We expect to have the pre-referendum work completed by the end of January, at which point we can more thoroughly evaluate the cost and impact on taxes. The Board will decide if the project will be placed on the ballot in May 2016.

During this pre-referendum process, we will have a stakeholder group that includes parents, teachers, Board members, administrators, and support personnel. There will also be general public information hearings and Board presentations. The stakeholder group will continue to meet and review conceptual designs and there will be several public input sessions.

All documents applicable to each step in this process are posted at this link. An anticipated timeline is posted there as well.

Sincerely,

Kevin McGowan, Ed.D.

Superintendent

Mark Kokanovich

Board of Education President