Appropriation for roof repairs passes

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REGION 16 — A supplemental appropriation of $384,882 in surplus funds was approved at a district meeting Monday night.

The appropriation was approved, 27-14. Beacon Falls voters approved the appropriation, 10-7, while Prospect voters approved it, 17-7. The funds, which come from the 2013-14 year-end budget balance, will be allocated into Region 16’s capital non-recurring account.

The Board of Education, which oversees schools in Beacon Falls and Prospect, plans to use the money to continue roof repairs at Woodland Regional High School.

In the fall of 2013, school officials discovered that parts of the roof at the school, which opened in 2001, were in disrepair and leaking in spots. The roof over the art wing was in the worst shape and has been fixed already. Temporary repairs have also been done to other parts of the roof.

School districts are eligible for some state reimbursement on replacing roofs once they are 15 years old and more if the roof is 20 years old. The Woodland roof will be 15 years old in 2016.

Superintendent of Schools Michael Yamin said the board will look into what reimbursement it can get after 15 and 20 years of the life of the roof and the current state of the roof, before making a decision on when and how to proceed with the work.

Yamin thanked those that came out to vote Monday night, adding it provides the board with insight into the thought process of the community.

State statute allows regional school districts to create a capital non-recurring account, which can only be used to pay for one-time capital expenses. Under state law, regional school districts can appropriate 1 percent of their budgets annually into the account.

The appropriation was the second one approved in as many years. Voters last year approved appropriating $244,191 from the 2012-13 budget surplus into the account to help pay for repairs to the roof at Woodland, as well.