Groton — The Groton Town Council has decided to move forward with the proposed school construction referendum to build one new middle school and modernize two existing middle schools and convert them into elementary schools.

The plan would cost $184 million, of which Groton taxpayers would pay $84 million. That translates into about $136 in additional taxes for every $100,000 of assessed property value.

Groton had earlier sought to obtain additional state money but was unsuccessful.

Councilors, who voted unanimously on Wednesday to proceed, said they were compelled by at least two realities: The schools need significant attention — S.B. Butler Elementary School was built in 1953 — and Groton is losing students to surrounding districts that are investing in their schools.

“I’m really concerned about the consequences of doing nothing, because I think we’re going to really pay for it in the long run,” Councilor Karen Morton said.

She voted against the last two school referendums, but believed the schools were being maintained.

Now she realizes they weren’t to the extent needed.

Groton put off projects for years thinking the latest school referendum would pass, but when it didn’t, nothing got done.

Morton and her husband built their house in Mystic nine years ago, and can’t sell it for what it cost to build it, she said.

In the case of Butler Elementary, the heating system needs to be replaced, the building has air quality issues, the portable classrooms need more security, the electrical system is maxed out and the roof is leaking.

The school doesn’t meet fire codes or the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act, but is grandfathered in due to the building's age and use. 

Butler was built before schools accommodated disabled students in regular classrooms, before teachers had rolling computer carts and before rooms had promethean boards.

The construction plan would build the new middle school, renovate West Side and Cutler Middle schools and make them elementary schools with magnet programs, and close Butler, Pleasant Valley and Claude Chester Elementary schools, three of Groton's oldest facilities.

Without investment, the schools will continue to deteriorate, Superintendent Michael Graner said.

“This school project is the exact opposite. It’s an investment,” he said. “I understand it’s expensive, but I also understand that we need and want to invest in our community.”

To boost Groton’s competitiveness, Graner also plans to expand to the younger grades the International Baccalaureate, or IB, program at Robert E. Fitch High School.

The IB program is recognized internationally as a mark of a high-achieving and competitive school, due to its academic rigor.

“Put a state-of-the-art middle school, (adjacent to Fitch) on an International Baccalaureate campus, and create two new modern elementary schools, and take three aging schools offline,” Graner said, summing up the plan.

Mayor Bruce Flax said Groton can’t wait any longer.

“We have hundreds of years of schools that have not been upgraded and will cost a lot of money to fix,” he said.

Education is as important to the town’s future as economic development, Flax said.

“You have New London, who’s building magnet schools and taking our students away, you have other communities who are now renovating and building new schools, and I’m afraid people who are looking for a place to live won’t choose Groton,” Flax said.

“People can argue all they want that we don’t need (the schools) and we can get by with the schools we have," he said, "but the fact of the matter is, we can’t.”

d.straszheim@theday.com