Stonington’s K-12 Building Committee recommends renovating as new and adding to both West Vine Street School in Pawcatuck and Deans Mill School in Mystic. This project addresses the needs of our aging elementary schools while creating educational equity. These recommendations are based on 18 months of careful analysis of several options, and will result in the best educational outcome for students, while minimizing the financial impact to taxpayers.

Our committee was established to improve Stonington’s elementary schools. West Vine was built in 1967, and houses kindergarten through second grades. Pawcatuck’s other elementary school, West Broad Street School, was built in 1898 and houses third and fourth grades. Deans Mill houses kindergarten through fourth grade and was built in 1967. In 1973, space was added at Deans Mill because the Borough school burned down. West Vine and Deans Mill have not been improved since being built, and the recent problems at West Broad indicate the building is showing its age.

The elementary schools are in desperate need of renovations and additions. West Vine is full beyond capacity, with two temporary classrooms attached to the rear of the building, and two additional temporary classrooms slated to be used in the fall of 2015. Deans Mill is also full, with a temporary classroom attached to the rear of the building. When the committee toured West Vine and Deans Mill, we learned that the buildings badly needed upgrades.

The committee learned that flooring in many classrooms is made from asbestos tiles and that the buildings do not have sprinkler systems for fire protection.

At West Vine students who require one-on-one teaching use space in stairwells, library and music instruction take place simultaneously in the same room, and the cafeteria is also the gymnasium.

In the 1973 Deans Mill addition, classrooms have windows that are 12 feet above the floor, limiting natural light.

Both buildings use electric heat, and the electrical systems are beyond capacity in warmer months, with window air conditioners running at the same time as dehumidifiers to maintain air quality.

The town has used the existing elementary school buildings at West Vine and Deans Mill for 50 years, and the K-12 Building Committee will design this project so that these buildings can be used for another 50 years. While teaching and learning occur every day in these buildings, we can do better for our students.

This project brings equity to elementary education in Pawcatuck and Mystic. The proposed additions to West Vine and Deans Mill will convert these schools to house pre-kindergarten through fifth grades, eliminating the split elementary program in Pawcatuck. West Broad will remain a school until 2019, when the project is complete, at which time the selectmen will decide what to do with the building. First Selectman George Crouse said that he wants to create a task force to study the future of West Broad.

The project returns fifth grade to the elementary schools, creates flexible classroom spaces, eliminates portable classrooms at both sites, improves parking and bus traffic, and builds larger gymnasiums that can be used by all town residents. For the same cost as renovating as new, we will demolish the 1973 addition to Deans Mill, and build a new addition to the school. Also, money has been budgeted to fix the Pawcatuck Middle School roof, which needs to be replaced.

When this project is completed, the Stonington School District will have three new buildings (West Vine, Deans Mill, and the high school). The two middle schools were renovated in the 1990s and remain in good condition.

How much will this project cost? Our committee worked with the finance office at town hall to estimate that for the average home, this project was conservatively estimated to cost an additional $1,400 to $1,500 in taxes over a 10-year period starting in 2018. The yearly average would be approximately $150 with a peak of $300 in 2020. The average home is assessed at $225,000 (with an appraised value of approximately $320,000).

The referendum is Tuesday. Please support this effort to provide better buildings for our elementary school students.

Rob Marseglia is chairman of the Stonington K-12 Building Committee.