School Board Eyes New Middle School Track

Hauppauge school officials are considering using an $85,000 legislative grant to build a new Middle School track.

The grant was gifted to the school district by Sen. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) and Sen. John Flanagan (R- East Northport) and must be used by this year.

"We thought about technology and a number of things, but the one thing that continues to be a sore spot for us, and that we would like to do something about is that middle school track, which is virtually unusable at this point," Superintendent Patricia Sullivan-Kriss said at a Board of Education meeting Tuesday night.

The grant is not enough to put in a track as elaborate as the high school's, the superintendent said, but initial estimates would allow for the middle school to put in a cedar track at a cost of about $70,000 or an asphalt one for about $85,000. The asphalt track, while more expensive, is also more durable and would last longer. The cost would include a four-lane track, landscaping, marking of the lanes.

If the board decides on the cedar track, the leftover $15,000 would likely be used toward new technology for the schools, Sullivan-Kriss said.  

Sullivan-Kriss said that she felt the money would best be used toward replacing the track, rather than hiring back a teacher because there is no guarantee that the district will receive the grant again.

"The money needs to be spent this year, so that’s the first part. The second part is that we have the ability to do something that you could not normally do in a budget and that is a one-shot deal, literally, and will not incur costs the following year and the following year," she said.