School Board Weighs Options For Alternative High School

By Larissa Lytwyn

At its September 7 meeting, the Board of Education expressed surprise and disappointment at the Planning and Zoning Commission’s  September 2 decision to reject Newtown High School’s application to house its experiential or alternative high school program in a 2,500-square-foot section of a 7,500-square-foot business-zoned building being constructed at 7 Berkshire Road in Sandy Hook.

The building’s convenient location across Berkshire Road from Newtown High’s new athletic field would have been ideal for the program, said Superintendent of Schools Evan Pitkoff during the application’s August 19 public hearing.

The program currently serves approximately 15 students, a number that is expected to grow as Newtown High School’s student population continues to climb.  Dr Pitkoff has characterized the students as having “special needs” that benefit from the small, one-on-one educational setting the experiential program provides.

The program’s students were displaced from their original location in Canaan House after its boiler exploded late one evening last winter, causing extensive damage.

The students are currently being housed in a barely-adequate two-classroom space in the basement of Newtown Middle School. Students have dubbed the location “the dungeon.”

The P&Z’s 3-1 rejection of the plan was based on a concern that housing a noncommercial program in a business-zoned building could create a precedent that could impinge on the future development of property tax-generating commercial enterprises.

At a August 19 public hearing on the issue, P&Z chairman William O’Neill noted that if the school occupied the new building, the town would be paying taxes to itself, instead of receiving tax revenue from privately owned business.

On September 2, P&Z chairman William O’Neill, Lilla Dean, and Barbara Brymer voted against the school’s application; P&Z member Robert Mulholland voted for it.

P&Z also approved a proposal by Little Explorers Child Development Center, LLC to modify zoning regulations to allow its 5,000-square-foot child daycare center to be housed at 7 Berkshire Road.

The entire Board of Education, Business Director Ron Bienkowski, Superintendent of Schools Evan Pitkoff, and school district faculty and administrators including Newtown High School Assistant Principals Lorrie Rodrigue and Cathy Ostar had been present at the September 2 meeting in support of the school’s application.

At the September 7 school board meeting, Ms McClure said she was “surprised” and “disappointed” by the decision.

Dr Pitkoff said that the district is exploring various alternative locations, including a space being offered by a Newtown church.

There is a limit of noncommercial spaces that could be used in town, he added, that could adequately suit the program’s needs.

Another possibility, Dr Pitkoff continued, was to lease or buy a new boiler that could be used in an alternative location in Canaan House, since the original area used by the program’s students is still in very poor condition.

Board member Paul Mangiafico wondered how much it would cost to place the students in their original location.

Board member Tom Gissen said that it might actually be more “cost-effective” to have the program temporarily moved to an outside rental location than it would be to return it, at this point, to its original Canaan House locale.

Dr Pitkoff said another possibility, proposed by P&Z members, was to reapply for the 7 Berkshire Road location using “very specific language” that would clearly identify the alternative high school program.

This way, he explained, the application would not set a precedent that could negatively effect the founding of new commercial enterprises in Newtown.

“There are still numerous alternative solutions we can explore,” Dr Pitkoff said.