EF unveils proposal for Phase II projects

By TAYLOR BROWN
Senior Reporter
tbrown@yourmvi.com
The Elizabeth Forward School District is at a crossroads.
Earlier this month, the district outlined a $27 million plan to begin construction on a new gymnasium and auditorium after a fire nearly a year ago destroyed the performance hall and surrounding rooms, damaged electric, air conditioning and water heating systems and spread smoke throughout the building.
While students have returned back to class, the past several months have served as a discovery period for district leaders as they forge a path forward.
Superintendent Keith Konyk said Phase I of the plan will create a new gymnasium and auditorium space.
It also includes the addition of a mechanical room, band and choir rooms and other site improvements including a new facade and improved HVAC systems.
The design of Phase I is about 90% complete and with construction set to begin this spring with an anticipated completion date of fall of 2026. Phase I us being funded through insurance reimbursements, the district’s fund balance and $10 million that was borrowed in 2023.
While the construction is good news for students, parents, faculty and staff and the result of a year of hard work and planning.
But, talks of change, innovation and infrastructure are not over as the district looks even further into it’s future.
The conversation at Wednesday’s school board meeting focused on Phase II of the project.
Phase II is expected to include renovations to the remainder of the high school, with the addition of classrooms for multiple levels, and, most notable — a district-wide consolidation.
Right now, the district manages and maintains seven buildings and multiple fields across seven sites.
Konyk said talks of the district’s infrastructure began long before 2023’s fire. It started in 2018 when the district completed a facilities audit.
The fire, Konyk said, required the district to accelerate and reassess its strategy when it comes to infrastructure – and education – moving forward.
“The fire that significantly damaged the high school auditorium and surrounding learning spaces presented a timely opportunity to further evaluate the long-term sustainability of the school district’s building footprint and assets,” Konyk said.
The plan he presented Wednesday is the start of what could be a major, district-wide overhaul that would provide better learning experiences for students, and in the long run, save the district money and allow it to better utilize staff and resources, he said.
Konyk said the plan as it is being presented involved a lot of research and input from various stakeholders, and will be an evolving process if the district would decide to move forward.
“As we went through this process we wanted to focus on career awareness, academic engagement, transformative technology, and make data informed decisions,” he said. “My message to the board and community is this, we are at a crossroads.”
Konyk went over four different options that were given to the district in its 2018 infrastructure audit.
Those four options ranged in price from $69 million to upwards of $160 million, and would each offer different enhancements. Project options ranged from doing basic upgrades to maintain current facilities for the next decade, to consolidating and building new construction.
Konyk, with his team, presented the board with a unique proposal that he feels would set the district up for success well into the future.
The proposal would include the following:
• Students in kindergarten and first grade attending what is now Central Elementary.
• Students in second through sixth grade would move to what is now the middle school.
• Seventh and 8th grades would then be transferred to the high school where a new academic wing with a separate entrance would be constructed.
• Grades nine through 12 would remain at the high school, where the new gymnasium and auditorium will soon be constructed, and the building would undergo several other critical upgrades.
The district office would be moved, and Greenock, Mt. Vernon and William Penn elementary schools would close.
“That is the most challenging part of this,” Konyk said. “But we are going to talk about this and explain the rationale of why we believe this sets us up for the future.”
Konyk and members of his team spent more than an hour going over various aspects of the proposal, and how it could be beneficial.
A consolidation could allow for support areas to be more available to students and eliminate the need for staff like maintenance, counselors, social workers and other positions to move between buildings.

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