Students, parents and arts supporters urged the Rockville Centre Union Free School District Board of Education at its Oct. 3 meeting to make replacement of the Southside High School auditorium air-conditioning unit a near-term priority, saying the current equipment is failing and disrupting rehearsals, classes and major school events.

Several students described how daily classes, long rehearsals and weekend “crew calls” depend on a usable auditorium. “I am in the auditorium for about 20 hours a week,” senior Lucy Frane told the board, adding that moving rehearsals or productions off campus would strip essential educational and technical work from play production classes. Senior Regan Zellis requested that any timeline for repair include consultation with affected students and faculty.

The district’s acting lead for facilities, identified in the meeting as Mister Gavin, told the board that district architects and HVAC specialists have concluded the existing unit “is not repairable,” calling any temporary fixes “mere stopgaps.” Gavin gave a broad cost estimate of “about $400,000 to a million” depending on bids and said equipment lead times and installer availability make the earliest feasible replacement two months and a more conservative estimate four to five months after an order is placed. He said the district is exploring options and expects to present further recommendations in two to three weeks and at the board’s next meeting on Oct. 22.

Gavin also said the district maintains a fund balance of approximately 3.5 percent and that using reserves to pay for the project could push the fund balance below the recommended 4 percent threshold, which could affect the district’s financial standing. “Utilizing reserves and fund balance for this project could push our fund balance below the recommended 4%,” he said, and characterized that as a constraint the board must weigh.

Parents and community members raised questions about logistics and equity if productions must relocate to the middle school: busing for students who depend on district transportation; lost parking and spectator capacity; differences in lighting, rigging and audio-visual equipment; and effects on IB Theater and Center Stage students with special needs. “If we are not able to build a set and hold the production at the high school, then what's the purpose of play production?” Frane asked. Several speakers said relocating rehearsals would disrupt weekend crew calls and hands-on technical instruction that many students cited as key to their postsecondary or career pathways.

Community advocates also pressed the board on timing and transparency. Parent Kristen Clodfelter asked why the problem was not elevated earlier after reports of overheating in June; several speakers recalled an incident at a May/June event when a student fainted in the auditorium. The district said that initial summertime interventions included adding refrigerant to extend life temporarily, but repeated failures over the summer prompted the current assessment that the unit cannot be reliably repaired.

Gavin described interim measures the district has tried, including altered ventilation strategies and portable options, and said engineers rejected wall-unit schemes as impractical for long-term service. He said the district has reached out to local elected officials to seek supplemental funding and has scheduled further meetings with students and drama parents. “We will continue to update you through the entirety of the process,” Gavin said; he told students the administration and board recognize the importance of the auditorium as a learning space and performance venue.

Board members expressed sympathy and the difficulty of balancing competing capital needs. Trustee Miss Messier said the auditorium condition “directly limits our ability to deliver on the district’s promise of a high quality, equitable educational experience for our art students,” and urged collaboration to find solutions. Trustee Doctor Downing and others thanked students for speaking and pledged to keep them involved in planning.

Smaller but formal business at the meeting included acceptance of an Ed Foundation grant to support a new dance program; the board unanimously moved to accept the gift. The superintendent and staff will provide a more detailed update at the Oct. 22 meeting and will meet with students and parents before that date.

Ending: The board did not adopt a replacement plan at the Oct. 3 meeting. Officials said procurement timelines, vendor availability, potential capital funding rules and the district’s fiscal reserves are factors the board is still weighing. Superintendent staff and trustees repeated a commitment to return to the community with specific proposals and a recommended path forward at upcoming briefings and the Oct. 22 board meeting.