Stonington school project on fast track to referendum
Stonington — After almost two decades of discussion and delays, it now appears the effort to upgrade the town’s elementary schools is on the fast track to possible voter approval.
June Strunk told her fellow members of the Board of Finance Wednesday night that the K-12 School Building Committee, of which she is a member, has a “very ambitious schedule” which would culminate with a referendum vote to approve bonding for the project in February.
Between now and then, the architect hired last week to design the project will come up with four options and their costs. Those will be presented to residents at three public hearings, the first of which will be held in the next few weeks.
If voters approve the funding, the town would submit an application for partial state reimbursement by next June. It would take about a year to receive approval for the reimbursement.
“That’s a pretty aggressive schedule,” said finance board Chairman Glenn Frishman after Strunk completed her report.
The finance board has been reluctant to support the project in the past because it did not want to add to the town’s debt load and increase taxes. School officials, though, have said the town’s three elementary schools — Deans Mill, West Broad Street and West Vine Street — need to be updated and expanded.
In the past year, the town had to replace the roof at Deans Mill School because water was leaking into classrooms and the library. Repairs had to be made to the top floor of West Broad Street School after it was closed this spring when water-soaked portions of the ceiling began to sag and a portion of a stairwell ceiling collapsed.
While there is not yet a cost estimate for the project, school and town officials have informally mentioned a price tag in the $40 million to $50 million range. The cost to renovate and expand the high school a decade ago was $39 million. The state is currently reimbursing towns 21 to 30 percent of the project cost depending on if they undertake a renovation or new construction.
Strunk said the architectural firm of Drummey Rosane Anderson of Windsor and Needham, Mass., which met with the building committee Thursday night for the first time, would design four options which call for between four and seven buildings.
The options include maintaining the town’s six schools and the school administration building and upgrading the elementary schools; doing the same while closing the school administration building and moving it to one of the other schools; closing the school administration building and West Broad Street school while renovating/expanding West Vine Street and Deans Mill schools and lastly, building a new middle school on the grounds of the high school, closing the elementary schools and school administration building, and moving students in kindergarten through grade 5 to the existing Mystic and Pawcatuck Middle schools.
While the third option has been the one under consideration for years, the school board now favors the fourth option of a new middle school.
Strunk said the building committee’s goal is to find an option that works best in respect to the budget and the needs of students.
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Twitter: @joewojtas
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