Norwich — The new School Facilities Review Committee hopes to avoid the problems that caused a previous effort to design a school consolidation and renovation plan to fail by holding meetings in city schools, reporting frequently to the school board and City Council and seeking public input at key points in the process.

The new committee held its organizational meeting Wednesday and concluded quickly that it would be unrealistic to complete a proposed project in time to put the proposal to the voters at referendum this November. Committee Chairman Mark Bettencourt suggested the 11-member committee could complete its work by next April to prepare to seek Board of Education and City Council approval for the November 2019 ballot for referendum.

The City Council last May rejected the $144.5 million proposed school consolidation and renovation plan that would have cost city taxpayers $57.6 million if current state reimbursement formulas remained intact. That plan called for renovating and expanding four city elementary schools, closing three others and keeping the recently renovated Kelly Middle School for grades seven and eight, and closing Teachers’ Memorial Middle School.

The new committee received copies of reports developed by the previous facilities committee, including reports on the condition of the 15 school buildings, physical descriptions, lot sizes and possible expansion areas. Members also received the proposal that called for renovating four elementary schools and keeping the recently renovated Kelly Middle School, reports on all the public meetings and input received along the way.

The new committee will meet at 6 p.m. on the first Wednesdays of the month, the next one on May 2 at City Hall. Alderman and committee member Joseph DeLucia suggested rotating the meetings among the schools once progress is being made. The group also plans to tour school buildings during school session to see how they function when fully occupied.

Bettencourt also plans to have the committee report frequently to the City Council and the Board of Education to gauge support for the group’s direction. Public hearings will be held at key points in the process.

While conditions of the various aging school buildings are expected to dictate part of the proposal, committee members plan to start with decisions on a design for the school system and then work on building configurations.

Norwich teacher and committee member Susan Blinderman said communication will be key. She said she considers herself well connected with goings-on in the school system, but was surprised by some aspects of the previous school renovation proposal.

Aldermen, including Mayor Peter Nystrom, who proposed creating the new panel, objected that the four schools chosen last year were concentrated in the western half of the city, leaving students in the southern and eastern neighborhoods with longer bus rides and no neighborhood schools.

c.bessette@theday.com