While students were enjoying their summer vacations, work at the Peekskill City School District didn’t stop.

In addition to new cell phone restriction rules, students returning to school on Tuesday, Sept. 2, can expect to see both ongoing and completed capital improvement and district projects.

During the last Board of Education meeting Tuesday, Aug. 26, before the opening of the schools, Director of Facilities Carmine Crisci provided an update on the capital work to beautify, modernize and transform school facilities across the district, classrooms, and common areas.

Those projects include improvements at the Peekskill Administration Building, Peekskill High School, and Hillcrest, Oakside, and Woodside elementary schools. Parents and residents recently voted to support such capital projects and work for the schools in 2019 and 2023.

One project at the Administration Building will see the pool, used for storage since its closure in 2008, transformed into three classrooms with movable partition walls. This, Crisci said, could give the district options for a black box theater, yoga, and an overflow space for the high school.

A project for new roofing at the high school and Hillcrest saved the district a million dollars from its original estimate, according to Crisci. Rather than a full replacement of the rubber roofs, the district used an epoxy coating placed directly on each roof, which gives them a 30-year warranty rather than the standard 20, Crisci said. 

This work will prepare the roofs to soon receive solar under the energy performance contract, which will help supply air conditioning to classrooms currently without AC, a new boiler plant, and upgrades to the building management system that gives better control to the existing HVAC system.

Another recently completed project — which Crisci suspected would be everyone’s favorite — was the new Hillcrest Elementary parking lot. All lots at the school were rescaled and relined, the playground area was cleaned up, and the back of the school was blacktopped so it’s easier to maintain. 

Other projects at both Oakside and Woodside include ongoing kitchen projects mirroring a kitchen completed last summer at Hillcrest and beautification and renovation of cafeterias.

“It is not just a beautification project,” Crisci said of the cafeteria project at Oakside. “It is a true, complete renovation and construction project. We have to rip out floors, remove drains, add drainage, add new underground electric.”

Dr. David Mauricio asked parents for patience as schools opened, noting there have been slight delays to the opening of the cafeterias at Woodside and Oakside, but assured parents kids will be well fed in school.

The district has also done several in-house projects, including replacing classroom floors, painting, and upgrading furniture in the high school and bringing in a new boiler plant and renovating bathrooms at Hillcrest.

At the high school, students can expect even more capital improvements, including a new entrance with a bridge, a new main entrance vestibule, a new athletic wing, a new gymnasium, a transformation of the fitness center into two additional classrooms, a transformation of the girls locker room into a new fitness center, and a transformation of the boys locker room into office space.

“When we’re coming up with these projects, everything that we’re doing is in alignment, the best we can, with our building condition survey, and our five year plan that we put together,” Crisci said, thanking the Board of Education and his staff from the facilities department for all of their efforts in bringing to life the new capital and district projects. “The amount of work that has been accomplished here is absolutely amazing.”

Parent Jeff Altorfer commended Crisci for his work, saying he helped quash some of his concerns and fears over the projects.

“We want to educate our children, but the last thing we want to do is expose them to hazardous materials like asbestos, whatever it is,” Altofer said. “And to know that somebody’s actually doing it per the very well-written New York State laws and guidelines… I just want to say thank you very much for doing the job you’re doing,” Altorfer said to Crisci.

Newly elected board president Jilian Villon also thanked Crisci and shared excitement for the new school year.

“I want to welcome back all of our students [on Sept. 2]. I want to congratulate parents on having a moment to themselves,” Villon said. “I’m really excited to start off the next school year. As a board we’re really excited to welcome your students. We’re really excited about our capital work, about all of our buildings and where the [work is at].”