Salmon River officials looking for Akwesasne voters to approve $50 million renovation

A multi-million dollar expansion project at the Salmon River Central campus school will go before voters later this month and Salmon River officials are urging everyone in the district to approve the renovation. The $49.8 million project includes the construction of a middle school for 6th, 7th, and 8th graders, along with updates to several other areas of the school and the implementation of 21st century technology at both Salmon River and the St. Regis Mohawk School.

On Saturday, SRMS Principal Irving Papineau and Salmon River Assistant Principal Sharlee Thomas gave a presentation at the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe’s monthly meeting. The two were then joined on Monday by Superintendent Jane Collins at an open house and project presentation at the SRMS.

“We certainly need the support of the reservation to vote,” Collins said.

The project is being funded entirely through state aid, so taxpayer impact is minimal though there will likely be new positions created when the expansion is complete, which taxpayers would be liable to pay for.

Other schools in the North Country have had their own multi-million dollar renovation projects in the past ten years, though most of the Salmon River building is exactly as it was when it was constructed 50 years ago.

“Salmon River really needs to catch up,” Collins said.

The presenters also emphasized how valuable the project is and pointed out that Akwesasne students will be vastly affected.

“It’s not costing us a cent,” said Papineau. “We need to support it.”

“We are one of the only school districts that is growing,” said Thomas, adding that 65 percent of students at Salmon River are Mohawk.

At the SRMS presentation, Mike Swamp spoke on behalf of the Local 440 ironworkers, who have protested Salmon River in the past when they hired out-of-area contractors for renovation work.

“We’d like to see if we can make sure we land this project,” he told the presenters. “We want to utilize our own people…we have a ton of ironworkers and I’m sure they would love to work locally.”

Jane Collins invited Swamp, along with a local labor union representative, to meet with her.

”I would be happy to get together and talk about how this works,” she said. “I know there is a process…I’m new to this area.”

Swamp said that the Local 440 ironworkers “can really get the word out to vote.”

If the capital project is approved on Feb. 28, one of the first areas that will be renovated is the ice rink. Without the state funding being provided, the district would be in a bind as to how the rink could continue to be functional.

“If this building project is approved by voters, the ice rink will be repaired this year,” Thomas said.

The rest of the project would take a few years to complete. The new middle school would be constructed in the back of the school, connecting to the part of the building that currently houses the 7th, 8th and 9th graders. Thought that area is often referred to as the middle school, it doesn’t offer the same benefits as a fully functional, separate middle school

“Right now (students) come into 7th grade and they’re basically in a high school setting,” said Thomas.

She also pointed out that the school’s secondary gymnasium is used by students in grades 7 through 12, and a 12-year-old is in the locker room with an 18-year-old.

“Adolescence is a turbulent time,” she added.

With the sixth-graders being moved to the main campus school, Papineau will have more room at the SRMS, where they are already bursting at the seams despite two expansions the past 15 years.

“This year I had to turn away about 18 kids at the pre-k level,” Papineau said. “I didn’t have room.”

For community members who wish to learn additional details of the capital project, a final information session will be held on Feb. 12 at the Salmon River School Auditorium, at 3:30 and 5:30.

Questions may also be directed to Superintendent Jane Collins at (518) 358-6610.