By Matthew Saari

The Whitehall Board of Education voted 7-1 last week to move forward with an $18.5 million school upgrade project, with the vast majority of the cost expected to be covered with state aid.

“It’s the first project of this scope in the district ever,” said school superintendent Patrick Dee.

Before voting, board members received a detailed presentation outlining the project’s scope as well as financing options available to the district.

Leading the presentation was Pam Hamlin, a representative of Tetra Tech, the Albany-based engineering firm which drafted the project.

“It was a priority of the group to look at a project that had a neutral financial impact,” Hamlin said.

For the next 10 minutes, Hamlin outlined what the district’s immediate construction needs were as well as additional high-priority but not necessarily immediately required improvements.

This is only a preview of the story published in the Whitehall Times. To read the full story, pick up a print copy of this week’s paper at the newsstand or read it online here.