No Consensus—

Opinions And Options Mark Session On NHS Overcrowding

By Susan Coney

On Monday, February 6, scores of residents, as well as several members of the Legislative Council, the Board of Finance, and First Selectman Herb Rosenthal, attended a special Board of Education meeting to consider how best to address overcrowding at Newtown High School.

Residents quickly filled the high school lecture hall and first listened to a brief outline of four proposed options for high school expansion.

The first option suggested an off-site satellite program housed at Fairfield Hills to accommodate 450 to 500 students at a projected cost of between $30 and $41 million, depending on size, before state reimbursement. This option could offer specialized programs and would provide a new building that could be designed so that it could be added onto in the future. This option separates some students from the high school, presents transportation problems, which in turn result in lost instructional time, and also decreases the flexibility in the high school schedule.

The second option proposed a 66,000-square-foot addition and renovation of the present high school at an estimated cost of $36 million before state reimbursement. This option would keep all of the high school students together and provide a freshman house helping to solve overcrowding in the halls. This addition limits options for future growth on site.

A third option is to build an new high school and move the middle school into the present high school facility. The cost estimate for a new school prior to state reimbursement is $150 million. This option allows all high school students to remain together and maximizes the ability to provide comprehensive course offerings. It would also eliminate the need to renovate the middle school. Problems with this option are that it creates a large student population and requires more space than in the current Fairfield Hills plan. The cost for this project would take the town well over the current ten percent debt cap and would cause the tax rate to rise.

The fourth option is to build a second full high school to accommodate between 800 to 1,000 students. The cost estimate for this project is between $60 and $79 million before state reimbursement. Advantages of this option are that two smaller schools are more personal and offer students twice as many opportunities to participate on sports teams. Having a second high school, however, divides the town and requires additional staffing and programs. The cost for this project would cause the tax rate to rise and put the town over the current ten percent debt cap.

The packet of information also provided residents with possible interim alternatives to accommodate the growth until a long-range solution is in place. Those alternatives include the use of portable classrooms; moving to a trimester schedule where the school schedule is year-round with students attending two of the three sessions; the use of split sessions, having some students go to school in the morning and some in the afternoon; and/or senior programming where offerings to seniors are broadened to include internships and college courses off campus.

Board of Education Chairman Elaine McClure opened the meeting by welcoming those in attendance and briefly reviewing the packet of space needs proposals provided at the meeting. Ms McClure assured residents by saying, “The board is here to listen to you. We are saying to you that every one of these options has pros and cons. It is wonderful to have everyone here tonight.” She then opened the floor for public input.

Twenty-two residents spoke at the public forum representing a range of ideas and opinions. There was no consensus of any of the options presented. A central theme throughout the evening emphasized the need for the Board of Education to look for a long-range solution, to cooperate with other town officials in arriving at a solution, and to keep the public informed.

Newtown resident Virginia Zimmerman, who teaches in Fairfield, stated that when Fairfield added a second high school it caused a tremendous divide in the town. She confirmed that taxes there went up dramatically because of the need to pay for two of everything. Ms Zimmerman was applauded when she summed, “I would like to see one high school; there are ways to make one high school work.”

Sarah Beier thanked the board members for the time and effort they expend. She said, “It took quite a bit to bring everyone here tonight. Your jobs are volunteer. You need to set goals, put out ideas, and lead us forward. What you say and do will always be critiqued. We do need to have information.”

She continued, “I do know our community needs to have a board with goals, plans, and a timeline. We need feedback and need to be kept apprised. We need to come together for more structure.”

Denise Kaiser commended board members for the excellent first step of providing written options for review. She was in favor of keeping the students all in one high school. “If we are headed to more than 2,200 then we are looking at a new high school like it or not,” Ms Kaiser said.

Gary Davis of Sandy Hook stated, “I am not as on the fence as others speaking before me. As I look at the options the one that jumps off the page to me is that we need a new high school. How do we get there? I think we have to get there. We have a lot of work ahead. I’m glad people from other boards are here tonight.”

He said, “At the end of the day the role of the Board of Ed is to pick the best long-term solution for the best education. I know you are pressured to look at other options, but eventually we are going to have to go through with it and challenge the other boards to come together to meet the needs of our schools and other needs of the town. If we choose Band-Aids they are going to fall off. I do believe we can find a solution.”

High school student Rob Morlath added his observations. “I can tell you right now the overcrowding is a real problem. Go to the high school and try walking down the hallways or sit in the cafeteria. More kids stand up than sit down at lunch. We need to fix this with a long-term solution. People keep moving into town.”

Rob brought a thunder of laughter and applause when he said, “The trimester schedule, that’s not going to work because there’s no way your going to cut into my summer.”

Longtime resident Ruby Johnson gave a brief rundown of town history stating that in 1974 the town purchased 15 portable classrooms and put them all over town due to poor planning.

Ms Johnson referred to Board of Finance Chairman John Kortze, saying, “John is a financial wizard. We just have to twist his arm. Not all gray-haired people are against kids. I want America to be the best, we need your children taking tough math, science, and engineering or we won’t be able to keep up with other countries. Do you want to be a first class democracy or a second class democracy?”

She continued, “Populations are cyclical just like recessions. The population may dip but it will come back. I would be more than happy to support the Board of Education if it is a long-term plan. Personally I think you have to plan for a new high school. You may have to do it in stages, that’s John’s department. You may get the money gradually.”

Resident Larry Whippie said, “I would love to see a new high school, I have a third grader. If we build a new school and we have to raise taxes maybe it will reduce the number of people willing to move in; maybe that’s a good thing.”

Mr Whippie also suggested the need for a second driveway at the existing high school.

 Christine Crudo felt it was imperative to think about a long-term solution. “We can’t Band-Aid this problem. I think we need to go to the educators, the ones who deal with it.”

Tina Fiorella was in favor of two high schools. “In my opinion two high schools would provide two teams, two clubs and give kids more chances to be more participatory. In smaller schools the administrators get to know the kids. Bigger is not always better.”

Ms Fiorella stated that she did not feel there was enough information at the present time to make a decision but felt the need to bring back a quality education. She also commented that she was very disturbed by the fact that the students can’t sit down at lunch to eat.

Relatively new to the community, George Paik admitted that he had screened the schools before moving here from out of state. He stated that after the basic infrastructure of the community is met, the first priority would be maximizing the academic achievement of every student.

Mr Paik stated he felt the town was divided into two camps on school overcrowding issue and urged the need for communication and cooperation between all the officials in town to come up with a solution.

Superintendent Evan Pitkoff told The Bee after the meeting that he was very pleased with the turnout. “It was a good opportunity for the board and elected officials to hear what the public was thinking. I heard two things fairly loudly; think long range and work to have all the boards in town cooperate to solve this issue.” Dr Pitkoff also stated the board’s desire to continue to communicate information.

Board of Education member Paul Mangiafico was encouraged by the large turn out. “It was great to hear the various opinions people had on this critical decision. The comments were all over the place. For the most part the message I walked away with was to look at it strategically and take a long view.”

Board Chairman Elaine McClure said, “I thought it went well, certainly we didn’t have any kind of a consensus. It was a wonderful turnout and I felt people were comfortable enough to say what they thought. Newtown is a smart town. They want quality, long-term planning and to keep communication open.”