By a tally of 826-296, voters in Schenectady approved $70 million in capital improvements in the school district to deal with anticipated growth and to renovate aging buildings.

"We're elated with the results and the fact that it was a supermajority means we can proceed with phase one," school board President Cathy Lewis said Tuesday night, noting the nearly 74 percent approval vote. "We feel that the people of Schenectady believe in their schools, and the fact that there was no tax impact was helpful."

Superintendent of Schools Larry Spring described the supermajority victory as "outstanding."

"It gives us a clear direction in terms of the sensitivity to taxpayers and the community understanding that it is really good for kids," Spring said. "This is not a flashy project, and we'll do it in a responsible way."

He said the design phase will now "kick into high gear" over the next few months before the district submits its plans to the state Education Department for approval.

It will be at least a year before the district begins any work in the buildings, Lewis said.

The district has said much of the work, roughly half of which will be upgrades to roofs and boilers, will take place at Mont Pleasant and Oneida middle schools, Van Corlaer Elementary and Howe Early Childhood Education Center.

Steinmetz Career & Leadership Academy, Central Park Middle School and Paige Elementary will get moderate upgrades.

The district is counting on $66.5 million in state building aid and $3.5 million in EXCEL money to cover the full amount of the project.

At most, city taxpayers might be on the hook for no more than $1.14 in school taxes per year for a home assessed at $100,000 for any work state funding doesn't cover, school officials said.

Oneida was closed in June 2012 to save money.

School officials are hoping to reopen Oneida, which, along with Mont Pleasant and Central Park, would be turned into middle schools for the 2016-17 academic year. That is when the district would also shift to the more conventional model of pre-K through fifth grade in elementary schools, sixth through eighth grades in middle schools and grades nine through 12 for high school.

The district now uses what's called a hybrid model in which the grades included in schools are not consistent. For instance, some schools have included first through eighth grades, while others have students in kindergarten through eight and still others have classes for kindergarten through sixth.

pnelson@timesunion.com • 518-454-5347 • @apaulnelson