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The board of education [BOE] is finalizing plans for administrative offices to move from downtown Asbury Park to the Barack H. Obama building on Bangs Avenue [pictured above].

The district’s administrative staff has occupied a floor of The Press Building at 603 Mattison Ave. [right] for several years, paying $189,327 annually, or about $15,000 per month, for the space.

Members of the community and school district staff have often publicly suggested the board move administrative offices to the largely unused Obama Building, which was an elementary school until recently, to save money. The Obama Building now holds the district’s child study team and early childhood department. It also functions as a parent center.

For the board to occupy the Obama building, a portion of the former school’s second floor would need renovation. The district sought estimates for the work and first received a quote of $2.6 million, which officials deemed too expensive. Then, the board received a scaled-down estimate at $1.6 million, which they decided was still too expensive.

Now, the board has gotten an estimate of about $800,000 from Shore Point Architecture, and they are pursuing the renovations to the building’s second floor, with a likely move-in date of July 1, 2013 — the same day their lease at The Press Building ends.

The lower estimate was achieved in part through the removal of a second elevator. The building’s current elevator must be renovated so it is ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] compliant, business administrator Geoffrey Hastings said.

At last night’s BOE meeting, the board discussed aspects of the move. Under current plans, only Hastings and Superintendent Denise Lowe would have fully enclosed, private offices. The district’s director of curriculum, director of special services and other staff members and secretaries would be separated by partitions, not floor-to-ceiling walls, to cut down on costs.

Some believe this cost-saving measure could create privacy issues.

“I have a concern … because of confidentiality issues,” said director of special services William Shannon. “I’m thinking of some things discussed earlier today [in administrative offices]. If my office was open, I’d have serious concerns.”

In his office, Shannon discusses issues regarding DYFS [Division of Youth and Family Services], student homelessness, staff discipline and more, he said, with parents and other staff members.

“Those are things I just don’t think should be taking place in an area where you can’t ensure confidentiality,” he said.

Some classrooms on the building’s second floor are currently empty and could be used for confidential discussions, board member Angela Ahbez-Anderson said.

But changing locations in the middle of a meeting when confidential issues come up could be disruptive, Lowe said. “Yes, you can move, but it stifles the conversation,” she said.

Plans also include central air conditioning for the second and third floors, which will benefit not only administrators but also the students who attend classes on the third floor.

Board member Barbara Lesinski noted the added expense of the air-counditioning.

“You can start adding things but with central air the price is going up again,” she said.

She also noted those present in the offices — the administrators and their secretaries — should be able to handle the overhearing private subject matter without breaching confidentiality. “People aren’t screaming things out,” she said. “Somebody isn’t going to be broadcasting your conversation through the building.”

But members of the public are often present in the offices and would be able to hear conversations, Shannon said.

Lowe said reserving a classroom for confidential conversations could solve the problem.

Hastings will look to finalize the architectural plans so the board can put the project out to bid and accept a bid as soon as possible, he said.

State fiscal monitor Lester Richens reminded the board that it must move forward soon in order to have the building ready by the July 1, 2013, deadline, as the district’s lease in the Press Building ends the same day.

“The first estimate was $2 million and now it’s $800,000,” Richens said. “This should be the last discussion about this and we’re moving forward.”

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