The Westport Board of Education tonight approved requesting $1.15 million from the town funding bodies for upgrades to school facilities.

The authorization to proceed with the funding request followed a discussion with several Board of Finance members about the school budget and a presentation by consultant David Kennedy on enrollment projections.

The funding request covers a roof project and other repairs to Coleytown Elementary School and pool and locker room upgrades to Staples High School.  The items are in the board’s capital forecast.

Kennedy told the board that enrollment is likely to decline over the next three to five years but that any projection beyond that would be “wishful thinking.”

Michael Gordon: “We are generally pleased with candidates.” Contributed photo

The Westport Board of Education recently began interviewing candidates to replace Schools Superintendent Elliott Landon who is retiring in June, the board announced today.

“The interview phase of the superintendent search is a several-step process that allows the board to get to know the candidates well,” said Michael Gordon, school board chairman. “We are generally pleased with the pool of candidates recommended by our search consultant.”

The school board contracted national search firm Hazard, Attea & Young (HYA) in the spring after Landon announced he would be retiring following 17 years at the helm.

To discern the kind of superintendent the town sought to fill Landon’s shoes, HYA surveyed almost 700 participants, plus held public sessions and two dozen focus groups with school board members, administrators, town officials, teachers, support staff and parents.

After much discussion over the method of financing, the Westport Board of Education voted tonight to seek $290,000 to air condition the cafeteria and gymnasium at Coleytown Elementary School.

It is the only school among eight in the district that does not have air conditioning in these key areas. The issue has been in the capital project list since at least 2005 for the school, which opened in 1953.

At issue was whether the board should fund the project from its Capital Expenditure Offset Account and the Food Service Capital Account, as recommended by Schools Superintendent Elliott Landon, or go to the town funding bodies with a capital project appropriation request.

A lengthy debate ensued, with member Mark Mathias summing up: “It’s a capital project. The Board of Finance as far as I know has always approved a request we’ve had for capital projects … This is the way it should be done.”

UPDATE The Westport Board of Education tonight was told it would cost $630,000 to add three-point seat belts to the district’s 41 school buses.

The use of three-point seat belts on school buses was discussed at tonight’s Board of Education meeting. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

The board asked for more information about the issue and put off any action until a future meeting.

The discussion about seat belts followed a memo to the board from Superintendent of Schools Elliott Landon. He said he was raising the issue in light of a recommendation for use of the belts by Mark Rosekind, administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

“Three-point seat belts, just like the ones installed on automobiles, are the preferred type of equipment for school buses,” he said in the memo and repeated to the board tonight.