Update: November 23, 2009

WES: Updated 11.23 The district received  final fire inspection approvals to open WES before the start of the school year. As such, there are no safety or health issues within the building. However a number of aesthetic issues remain.

 The most obvious of these is the lack of floor tile in the new wing. The moisture tests on the cement sub floors continues to come back as too moist to lay tile. This has been an ongoing issue with the wet summer weather that we had in June, July and August. The floor has been scrubbed and washed but looks very "unfinished". There is no safety or health issue with with the floors in this condition. Again, it just doesn't look very good. Long carpet runners have been ordered to cover high traffic parts of the floor to help give it a better look temporarily. Moisture tests will be taken every few days to see when we can lay the tile in these areas.
 Also, the glass walls at the end of each hall have been delivered and installed. Click here to view pictures of the new wing!

  The new WES playgrounds have been installed! Click here to read more.

WJSHS:  Members of the Watervliet City School District community celebrated the start of the next phase of the district’s ongoing building project on October 2. Aside from heralding the official start of construction work at the Jr.-Sr. High School, Superintendent Paul Padalino formally announced the district’s selection as one of six school districts in New York State to receive Qualified Zone Academy Bonds (QZAB) to help mitigate the local taxpayers’ share of the district’s $21.7 million project.

QZAB bonds are a relatively new financing instrument administered by the New York State Education Department through the federal government. The non-interest-bearing QZAB bonds will save the Watervliet taxpayers an estimated $3.7 million in interest payments. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE

 The emergency project to fix the exterior wall and stairway leading into the girl's locker room continues and is on schedule. Work on the third floor continues, and tile was recently laid. Currently, the soccer field and tennis courts are both being used as staging areas for construction materials and construction vehicles...each will be replaced during as part of the project scope. All soccer games will be played on our football field this year and next. Ground breaking on the gymnasium portion of the project will be in early October.

Late September's construction impact meeting answered questions, including, "What happened to all the trees?" READ MORE

Building Project History:

In March 2008, the voters of the Watervliet City School District overwhelmingly approved a bond referendum to improve our school buildings. This project, coupled with the $8.6 million project currently underway at Watervliet Elementary School will provide our students and community with school facilities that are up-to-date and a source of great pride. Phase I of the construction was completed in September of 2007 and Phase II has begun. Phase III (high school) is estimated to begin in January of 2009 and be completed in September of 2010. Please visit this page for updates on the project's progress.