Southold HS plans to replace bleachers; project will cost $120K

The Southold School District is planning to spend up to $120,000 to replace the old wooden bleachers in the high school gym. The work is slated to be done either over the Thanksgiving or Christmas break.

The school board held an informational hearing Wednesday on drawing the funds from the district’s repair fund.

“It’s really a safety issue now,” said school board president Paulette Ofrias, adding that the bleachers were in the auditorium when she was a student. “I often worry about children and seniors falling through them.”

The district also set October 16 as the date for a vote on spending $2.5 million from the school’s capital projects fund to replace the high school roof.

The high school’s slate roof was installed 75 years ago, and other asphalt sections of the roof are 20 years old. They’re scheduled for replacement in the summer of 2013.

During the budget vote in May residents approved a separate measure authorizing the transfer of funds for the roof repair from the district’s repair fund to its capital fund. A second referendum is required to authorize the work.

Read more from the meeting in next week’s issue of The Suffolk Times on newsstands and also available via epaper August 30.