Questions Linger Over 5/6 School

By Steve Bigham

It has been well documented that Newtown is in need of a new 5/6 school to address the town’s rapidly growing school population. The debate over the school shifted long ago from whether it is needed to how to pay for it. With Newtown’s rate of growth in mind, the chairman of the Legislative Council, however, is having second thoughts.

School officials deny the immediate need for any more schools beyond the 5/6 school. Legislative Council Chairman Pierre Rochman this week expressed concern that a 5/6 school may not be the best option for Newtown right now.

“If we accept the fact that we are going to have this fairly phenomenal growth rate, then is it wise to put our money into a 5/6 school?” he wondered. “I think we’re ignoring the reality that we’re going to need another school by the time this one opens. And I think we need to plan accordingly,” he said Tuesday. “We’re planning as if this is it for the next five years. It’s not an efficient use of our town taxes to build a 5/6 school and ignore what else is coming down the road. Our function on the Legislative Council is to plan for at least five years into the future. The Board of Education has an equal responsibility to do that – not two years, but five years.”

Last week, the council put off allocating $1.1 million worth of debt service for the school board’s proposed 5/6 school, which town officials now agree will not be ready to go forward until next year. With more time to “think it through,” Mr Rochman believes the town needs to reconsider “this whole business of a 5/6 school.”

“My thought perhaps is that we build either a bigger school with both a 5/6 school and an elementary school or perhaps a bigger elementary school.

Superintendent of Schools John R. Reed responded this week the same way he did last month when Mr Rochman voiced similar concerns. At this point, Dr Reed said, there are no plans for another elementary school. However, he said, the Board of Education looks at school enrollment figures on a year-to-year basis and plans to study the issue again once the new figures arrive later this year.

“The 5/6 school is supposed to open in late 2002. That’s a couple of years away almost. The planning cycle for a school from the time a school is needed until it opens is five years,” Dr Reed said. “I don’t have a crystal ball. We do a study every year, and we will make a judgement about the need for a new school.”

It all depends on whether or not the development of the town continues at the rate it is at now, Dr Reed said. The economy will obviously play a big role in the direction it takes.

 “If we went back to 1992 and asked people how long they thought this economic recovery would be, I don’t think most would think it would have gone on for eight years. I don’t know,” he said. “Will it go on for another eight years?”

The 5/6 school – with its holding capacity of 1,100 students – is designed to alleviate overcrowded classrooms at the middle school and elementary schools. The 5/6 school, town officials say, is supposed to take the place of a new elementary school. Dr Reed acknowledged that a new elementary school, if needed, would be constructed somewhere along Route 34 in southern Newtown. Sandy Hook is by far the fastest growing area in Newtown and Sandy Hook School is reportedly bursting at the seams.

“There is no decision that the need is a definite one,” Dr Reed said. “If people are going to talk about the future, obviously if the town continues to grow – growth is going to be something the town will have to deal with well into this century.”

Legislative Council member Melissa Pilchard recently obtained a copy of subdivision approvals from the town’s land use department. The numbers, she said, are staggering.

 “How could anybody assume that there’s not going to be a need for more schools in the very immediate future,” she wondered this week. “I think that all needs to be worked into a big plan. Maybe a 5/6 school is the only solution, but I don’t know and that’s what concerns me. You can’t come up with $35 million at the last moment.”

A Troublesome Footnote

Pierre Rochman’s concerns about the need for another school popped up earlier this year after seeing the elementary school mentioned in a footnote in a report from the Fairfield Hills advisory committee.

The footnote stated: “School Board and Superintendent have stated that land [at Fairfield Hills] does not meet the location requirements for a new elementary school that has been projected in the next 3-5 years. The use of preferred neighborhood elementary schools would mean placing the next elementary school closer to the population density in Sandy Hook.”

With the issue in writing, Mr Rochman said he felt the proposed school needed to be discussed more seriously.

“Our capital plan does not mention that anywhere,” noted Mr Rochman. “It’s probably going to cost another $40 million to build the school so if they’re planning it now, we need to address it now.”

At the time, the council chairman requested a meeting of the council’s finance committee be scheduled to discuss the matter. In response, Dr Reed called it “ludicrous” to call a meeting to talk about something that may never come to pass.

“We have no reason to believe a new school is going to be necessary right now,” he said. “That’s pure speculation. The first thing we have to do is see how close we are to our school population growth for next year – six percent.”