School Bd. OKs Space In New Town Hall

By Laurie Borst

On Tuesday, June 12, the Board of Education heard a presentation from Tai Soo Kim Partners (TSKP), the architects for the new town hall project. TSKP partner Whitcomb Iglehart gave the board members an overview of the project. Blueprints showed the comparison of the current space used by the board at the Kendro Building and the space they will move into in the new town hall.

After brief discussion, the board voted unanimously to approve the specifications for the educational office space for the proposed town hall.

In his Superintendent’s Report, Dr Evan Pitkoff announced that the Legislative Council had set the date for a townwide referendum on June 26 for approval of the architect’s fees for the high school expansion project. (See related story in this issue.)

The board discussed revised requirements for graduation. Currently, students must earn 40 credits in seven curriculum areas to earn their diplomas. It has been recommended that these requirements increase to 44, adding one more science course and one more elective. These changes will be implemented with the Class of 2011.

Board member David Nanavaty expressed concern about costs associated with increased requirements and the need to hire more teachers to be able to provide for these increases. Arlene Gottesman, high school principal, explained that the science course requirement results in a need for hiring one more science teacher. The need for teachers for electives would be driven by the student demand for the various courses offered.

The board voted 5 to 1 to approve the revised graduation requirements. Mr Nanavaty was the lone negative vote.

Contingent on town approval of the high school expansion project, the board announced it has selected a construction manager for that project. Two firms were contenders. The board chose Morganti over Turner Construction. Morganti’s bid should result in savings of $815,000 over Turner’s.

At the end of the meeting, the board turned its attention to the issue of parking at the high school. At a meeting last week, the State Department of Transportation offered a presentation on the proposed changes to Exit 11.

During the course of that meeting, use of the commuter lot, across Wasserman Way from the high school, is for people who park and leave, a departure lot for commuters. The lot is not intended to be a destination lot, where people park for the day as with a parking garage.

Board and community members have expressed concern about safety issues if students park at the commuter lot and then must cross Wasserman Way, which is a very congested road in the morning when students arrive at school.

It was agreed that, while parking will be addressed to some degree in the high school expansion project, by next fall, alternatives need to be in place to deal with the crowded parking conditions at the school.