Westhill voters approve capital project for stadium, classroom cooling

Westhill Central School District voters approved a $73.85 million capital project that pairs classroom cooling and new prekindergarten space with a stadium overhaul and transportation upgrades. The two-part referendum passed Thursday at the Westhill High School Auditorium Foyer, moving the district from planning to construction for a package it says will modernize buildings, support learning and improve daily operations.

The vote split into two propositions. Proposition 1 is a $48 million base project and Proposition 2 is a $25.85 million add-alternate that depended on Proposition 1 passing. District materials say 92% of Proposition 1 is eligible for New York State building aid reimbursement and that the local share lines up with debt maturing from the Cherry Road Elementary expansion, which the district says helps keep that portion from raising the tax rate. Proposition 2 is primarily HVAC work at Cherry Road Elementary School and Onondaga Hill Middle School and would bring a tax-rate increase.

For families, the clearest academic payoff is at Walberta Park Elementary School, where the plan includes new UPK classrooms to meet a New York State mandate for the 2028-2029 school year. The district also says Proposition 1 includes upgrades to physical education space at Onondaga Hill Middle School, boiler replacement and mechanical controls work at Westhill High School, corridor roof and exterior lighting upgrades, and a new transportation center scalable to electric buses. It also calls for demolition of the old rectory building and old bus garage on the former St. Ann’s property, along with a new bus driver training center and district office space.

Athletics remain a visible piece of the project, but not the whole story. The stadium work in Proposition 1 includes turf field replacement, track resurfacing, stadium lighting replacement, scoreboard replacement, lacrosse safety netting and shot clocks, plus a batting cage for baseball and softball. Onondaga Hill Middle School would also get gymnasium work, including a new wood floor, bleachers, divider improvements, partial roof and siding repairs, a kitchen exhaust hood replacement and exterior lighting upgrades. Westhill previously passed an $18.7 million capital project in 2015, underscoring that this approval extends a pattern of reinvestment rather than a one-time expansion.