This being summer, South Shore Elementary School is quiet these days. The school will get eight new classrooms.
No more modulars at South Shore Elementary School in Albany, at least not after next year. That’s the plan, anyway.
Greater Albany Public Schools has asked the Albany planning division for a conditional use permit to replace four modular classrooms behind the South Shore building at 910 Bain St. with a free-standing, site-built addition of nearly 12,000 square feet, for eight classrooms.
Neighbors within 300 feet of the school were notified a couple of weeks ago, and today was the deadline for filing comments with the planning division.
One neighbor wondered about the notice because when she received it, she said work on the project had already begun. But what was being done was the moving the existing modulars from where the addition is to be built behind the school, not the addition itself.
The modulars have been shifted to a site on Bain Street just to the left — or south — of the school itself.
In their new location the modulars are intended to be temporary. If they were to be used for longer than a year, GAPSÂ would have to file a site plan and meet various city development code requirements.
At meetings over the past year, the school board has talked about space needs at South Shore and how best to meet them. The decision was to build a permanent addition with eight new classrooms instead of adding more modulars.
The addition is expected to cost about $7.5 million, according to Case Bowman, the district’s executive director of operations. The expense will be covered from federal funds known as ESSER.
(The “Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief” fund is part of a larger Covid-19 aid plan that provides emergency financial assistance for a variety of projects to school districts across the country. The program is available to schools until September 30, 2024.)
About 320 children attend South Shore. When the addition is completed, which is expected in the winter of 2023, they’ll have a little more room. (hh)
Four modular classrooms at South Shore have been moved to a spot south of the main building. The photo was taken July 1.
At South Shore School, making more space
This being summer, South Shore Elementary School is quiet these days. The school will get eight new classrooms.
No more modulars at South Shore Elementary School in Albany, at least not after next year. That’s the plan, anyway.
Greater Albany Public Schools has asked the Albany planning division for a conditional use permit to replace four modular classrooms behind the South Shore building at 910 Bain St. with a free-standing, site-built addition of nearly 12,000 square feet, for eight classrooms.
Neighbors within 300 feet of the school were notified a couple of weeks ago, and today was the deadline for filing comments with the planning division.
One neighbor wondered about the notice because when she received it, she said work on the project had already begun. But what was being done was the moving the existing modulars from where the addition is to be built behind the school, not the addition itself.
The modulars have been shifted to a site on Bain Street just to the left — or south — of the school itself.
In their new location the modulars are intended to be temporary. If they were to be used for longer than a year, GAPSÂ would have to file a site plan and meet various city development code requirements.
At meetings over the past year, the school board has talked about space needs at South Shore and how best to meet them. The decision was to build a permanent addition with eight new classrooms instead of adding more modulars.
The addition is expected to cost about $7.5 million, according to Case Bowman, the district’s executive director of operations. The expense will be covered from federal funds known as ESSER.
(The “Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief” fund is part of a larger Covid-19 aid plan that provides emergency financial assistance for a variety of projects to school districts across the country. The program is available to schools until September 30, 2024.)
About 320 children attend South Shore. When the addition is completed, which is expected in the winter of 2023, they’ll have a little more room. (hh)
Four modular classrooms at South Shore have been moved to a spot south of the main building. The photo was taken July 1.
Tags: Albany schools, classroom addition, conditional use permit, ESSER funds, modeular classrooms, South Shore