BOE votes not to close any school buildings

WINSTED — Despite months of meetings, analyzing reports by architects and various building inspections, the Winchester Board of Education voted not to close any school buildings during a special meeting on Thursday, April 29.The board has discussed closing one of the district buildings since November due to the decision to move the town’s seventh and eighth grades to the semi-private Gilbert School.On March 17, the School Building Committee voted unanimously to recommend the closing of Batcheller School.The committee cited the cost of bringing Batcheller up to code as well as the presence of asbestos as reasons to close the building.In their report to the district, O’Riordan Migani Architects of Seymour estimated that it would cost $4,557,709 to bring Batcheller School to current building and fire codes.However, at the special Board of Education meeting, Superintendent of Schools Blaise Salerno recommended that all three buildings remain open for the 2011-12 school year.Salerno read to board members a report that gave his evaluation of the buildings.He cited several reasons in his recommendation for the district not to close a building.“The overriding problem associated with closing any building prior to the beginning of the 2011-12 school year is that it eliminates any flexibility that the Board of Education might have should the current contract with The Gilbert School not be continued,” Salerno said. “Further, it closes off the opportunity for us to develop and expand special education programs in a manner that will decrease the demand for outside placements of resident students and market our programs to small districts in our area that are willing to pay tuition to us. Special education is a growth area. With careful planning, we would not only be providing a service to ourselves and others in the area, but would be in a position to increase revenue to the town.”Salerno said that, while the proposed education budget for the 2011-12 school year includes a line item of $50,000 for moving costs, the line item does not take into consideration purchasing, installing or moving a playscape to a school building that may need it.“There is also a line item of $21,000 for the rental space for district offices,” Salerno said. “No amounts have been set aside for the cost of heating, electric service or water service that would be associated with the space.”District offices are currently located in the Batcheller building.While Salerno recommended that all three school buildings stay open during the 2011-12 school year, he added that, if the board wanted to still close a building, that it should choose Pearson Middle School.“Pearson is the most costly [building] to operate,” he said. “It has the largest amount of capital work to be addressed and very little of the work could be completed before the beginning of the school year. It was not designed for the instruction of primary and intermediate grade students. It would be an ideal location for town offices and has the capacity to provide areas for drama, musical presentations, athletic events, recreational programs and public meetings of various sizes.”Board member James DiVita spoke out against closing Pearson because he said it would put a strain on the town’s winter recreation programs.“As far as winter sports, we use this building for youth basketball, karate and dancing,” DiVita said. “When it rained we held the Easter egg hunt in this building. Closing this building would devastate the winter recreation programs.”Board of Education Chairman Kathleen O’Brien said Gilbert School officials indicated to the board that Pearson would be needed for seventh- and eighth-grade sports programs.“The fact of the matter is the school budget is currently set at $18,600,000,” O’Brien said. “If it remains at that number, I suggest we do not close any of the schools. However, if the selectmen bring the budget back to $20,049,466 [the proposed minimum budget requirement for the town] then we should close Pearson. We have to close [the school] because this building costs the most to run. If the budget is above $20 million, then we should close Batcheller.”O’Brien said that the best possible scenario for the district is that it receives the minimum budget requirement [MBR].“Even at [the MBR] it will still cause devastation in the district,” she said. “We will have to put teachers on notice because some of them will lose their jobs. But if we have $20 million we will close [Pearson] because evidence indicates that this is the most expensive building to run and we don’t have the money to run it.”The board also talked about the potential location for the town’s Head Start and Family Resource Center programs.Board member Carol Palomba objected to the discussion.“Our board is responsible for pre-kindergarten to sixth grade,” Palomba said. “That should be our responsibility. We should concentrate on the space for our students first.”Board member Joseph Hanecak disagreed with Palomba.“I think you’re being narrow sided on early eduction,” Hanecak told Palomba. “Head Start does pay a little bit of money to rent space from us. Both Head Start and the Family Resource Center serve a purpose. I think you are stifling the creativity of our younger kids if you cut it out of the system.”The final vote not to close any of the school buildings was 4-3, with Kathleen O’Brien, Carol Palomba and Paul O’Meara voting against the motion.After the vote and later on in the meeting, O’Meara was critical of the board’s decision.“The biggest mistake [the board] has made is not closing a building,” O’Meara said. “You are going to have to add in $70,000 [into the budget] for two more janitors and you will have to pay utilities on all of the buildings. This will all add to the bottom line.”Board member Raymond Neal was not present at the meeting.