Sherman School Building Update - 3.6.24
Save Sherman School Takeaways from February 20th and March 4th School Building Committee & Board of Selectman Joint Meetings:
Background Notes:
School enrollment projections remain similar to the past. BOE determined the school will likely still need approximately two classrooms per grade.
12 classrooms needed for Prek-4 // 7 Classrooms needed for 5th-8th grades
New members are being added to the SBC. Likely new members are Don Lowe (1st selectman), Bob Ostrosky (selectman) and Andrea Maloney (treasurer). Will be confirmed at a later meeting.
Current Building Options Moving Forward:
Prek-5 School / Tuitioning out 6th-12th Grades:
This would mean sending 6-12th grades to another school district. BOE is still in talks with other school districts and numbers are not final, but they shared initial information.
• Once budget workshops are final in April, SBC will know if Prek-5 is a viable option financially
• The trend is looking like it will not make financial sense to tuition out the middle school
• School choice will not be an option if town tuitions out the middle school due to busing complications
• Also to consider, is the impact on the students, families, and the town culture that not having a middle school will have
• More information at https://www.saveshermanschool.com/q-a/febupdates
Modified comprehensive renovation:
Antinozzi architects presented pro-bono work to shrink Sherman School footprint to be as small as possible while maintaining Pre-K - 8th programming. BOE explained that the only way to address cost concerns is to shrink the size of the school by about 30%. Additionally, the BOE is working with state representatives to try to get a higher reimbursement rate than was available at the last referendum.
Enabling projects:
The BOS is concerned that the SBC has not met the expectation of the public to analyze a “fix-over-time” option. The BOS and SBC have repeatedly acknowledged a longer, more drawn out renovation:
• Is likely more expensive than a comprehensive plan, and would not be reimbursed by the state
• Will be too disruptive for students to remain in the building from a health and safety and educational standpoint.
•Will not be possible due to intersecting problems between major systems that need to be addressed at the same time per CT codes and regulations
• Will require taxpayer dollars as well as time to analyze a “fix-over-time” solution
BOS maintains that the burden of proof falls on the town officials to convey to the public that they have looked into every possible option before returning to voters with a revised comprehensive school remodel. SBC / BOS will explore hiring an engineer to analyze the building and see if there is an alternative path forward. SBC also wants to identify if there are some projects that make sense to start before a comprehensive project or in the event the next referendum fails and the town is forced to fix the most pressing issues.
New Construction:
SBC and BOE are investigating the viability and implications of potentially constructing a new building instead of renovating the old one.
• SBC and BOE are looking into site options and what costs would be.
• It is likely possible to build a slightly smaller / less expensive school if town builds new
however, the location would be the “wild card” that could make this option cost prohibitive
• Also to consider is that it could be 2-3 million to demolish current school building
• Could alleviate some of the issues around renovating the school with children in the building
• This option will be vetted more once decision is made about tuitioning out the middle school
