School district will spend $26 million

Voters in the Beacon City School District on Tuesday (Oct. 26) approved a $26 million capital project for upgrades at all six of its schools. The vote was 513-71, with a turnout of 3.5 percent of registered voters. District officials say the spending will not trigger a tax increase.

The plans range from the upgrade and modernization of the television/multimedia studio, science labs and art classrooms at Beacon High School and Rombout Middle School to playground upgrades at South Avenue and J.V. Forrestal elementary schools. It also addresses maintenance needs, the district said.

The district said it will borrow $24.4 million through bond funding and use $1 million from a capital reserve fund and $600,000 from savings.

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Behind The Story

Type: News

News: Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.

Jeff Simms has covered Beacon for The Current since 2015. He studied journalism at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. From there he worked as a reporter for the tri-weekly Watauga Democrat in Boone and the daily Carroll County Times in Westminster, Maryland, before transitioning into nonprofit communications in Washington, D.C., and New York City. He can be reached at [email protected].