By Michael Goot

SCHENECTADY — Students beginning the spring semester at Schenectady High School this week had fresh new digs.

Work has been completed on an 18,000-square-foot addition to the building containing 12 new classrooms. The new area of the school is called E wing, and it replaced a demolished section of the building that housed some technology rooms. Associate Superintendent Gary Comley said there are six science classrooms and six all purpose classrooms. “It gives us more space,” he said.

The school was using modular classrooms while the addition was completed. Comley said that was good in the short term but there was no science equipment in those rooms.

The new science rooms are more modern than the previous ones, Comley said, with special vents to allow noxious fumes created by experiments to escape. There is also more storage space for teachers.

In addition, Comley said almost all of the new rooms have whiteboards and modern overhead projectors.

Students are also using a new main entrance to the building from a parking lot on the McClellan Street side of the building.

Half of the buses will drop off students there, and others will go to the fine arts wing entrance. “The first few days have been very smooth,” Comley said.

Superintendent Eric Ely said the purpose of changing the bus patterns was to get traffic away from The Plaza.

“The Plaza was getting way too congested,” Ely said.

Comley said students who walk to school, parents and teachers will still be able to use the school’s entrance by the flagpole.

The new parking lot also helps alleviate parking problems. Previously, some teachers were parking on side streets near the school.

There is also a sign-in desk at the new main entrance and students head left or right in the roughly U-shaped wing. Opposite the entrance is a new atrium.

“There are certain kinds of plants for the science department there. We also can use that for house receptions,” Comley said.

A small portion of D wing housing technology rooms was demolished to make way for the addition. Other rooms were renovated in a different area to serve those functions.

Paper signs were still denoting the new wing. Comley hoped to get permanent signs erected soon. Also, school officials were tweaking the heating system this week, Comley said. Some rooms were too hot and others too cold.

Students seemed to like the new facility.

“I think it’s great. It’s nice. The floors are nice,” said 16-year-old junior Chris Casey.

Casey particularly liked the new bathrooms with easier-to-use faucets.

There will be an open house on Feb. 25 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. to allow members of the community to see the changes.

This is part of about $9.7 million worth of work at the high school. In the fall, construction finished on the new artificial turf football field, eight-lane track and fence around the athletic facility.

There have been some increased costs to the projects because of unforeseen issues. In November, the board added $140,000 for security lighting and cameras and to fix a problem with the track.

On Wednesday, the board approved $186,380 in additional cost increases. Nick Insognia, director of facilities, explained that because of the work done in the D wing, the heating units needed to be relocated to the roof. It was an engineering oversight. Another oversight was the lack of gas hookups at some of the science stations.

In the summer, the high school auditorium will receive a face-lift. Board of Education member Lisa Russo reported at Wednesday’s meeting that upgrades would include new lighting, painting and replacing the floor and stairs. Not currently on the list is to replace the auditorium seats or the stage floor, which is worn with nicks and scratches. The fine arts committee is exploring fundraising options for those two improvements.

By Michael Goot - Daily Gazette, Saturday, February 6, 2010