By Jarret Liotta
The Board of Education (BOE) Tuesday night heard a cautionary earful from some town officials and parents about a $3.6-million funding request it may seek for portable classrooms to house grade six at the elementary schools.
Anooshke Sethi, 15, and her brother Nakul, 9, addressed the Board of Education about the importance of having Mandarin taught with a live teacher, rather than by Skype for sixth grade, which has been talked about to augment the K-6 plan. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Jarret Liotta for WestportNow.com
Paul Drummey, project manager, said $3,590,820 is needed to rent 13 portable classrooms for five years, including a fourth at Long Lots School (LLS).
While he said he is hopeful that state grant money could eventually absorb the cost, the town must first demonstrate that locally authorized and certified funding is in place, as well as a designated building committee.
Further, to meet stringent deadlines aimed at getting the portables operational for the start of the 2019-20 school year, Drummy said the timeline requires approval from the town funding bodies by Feb. 1.
“This is extremely aggressive,” he said, explaining that the money doesn’t actually have to be spent.
“We’re pushing paper here so we can submit a grant,” he said. “It doesn’t mean we have to spend it.”
The figures presented, however, are still much larger than numbers discussed in December, when costs of around $70,000 per portable were heard for a one-year rental.
“I feel a little bit like our hand is kind of being forced at this point and I want to express that,” said BOE member Karen Kleine, calling the substantial increase “the elephant in the room.”
“I don’t understand why the figures were so different,” she said.
Drummey said he would return with more information, including the possibility of one-year costs, but described his estimates as part of a “worst-case scenario.”
“I’m incredibly confused,” Sheri Gordon, a Board of Finance member, told the BOE.
“The Board of Finance often takes two nights for something this large,” she said, noting much more information was needed.
“We’re just being told to trust the process … and it keeps changing,” she said.
“I’m telling you right now, it has to be specific,” she said. “There needs to be more information … otherwise it’s just not gonna fly.”
“I’m completely flabbergasted by this presentation and the numbers I’ve seen here,” said Christine Meiers Schatz, a District 2 member of the Representative Town Meeting (RTM).
“When you come before the RTM and you come before the Board of Finance, it’s not just the timeline, it’s also what value are we getting for $3.39 million,” she said, the cost for 12 portables excluding an additional one at LLS.
“I’m speechless,” said Carolyn Caney, LLS PTA co-president.
“You guys voted on numbers … It’s a joke. As a taxpayer I’m really offended,” she said.
“I’m really losing faith in the Board of Education and this superintendent, that this is how you guys make decisions,” Caney said.
Others, including Lauren Karpf, RTM-7 and chair of its Education Committee, voiced concern about moving forward with the K-6 plan at all.
“I’ve grown increasingly concerned over the past week,” she said, noting she particularly didn’t see it “playing out” at LLS.
She said it was worth a conversation to decide at what point it might be time to “pivot” back to having a single middle school next year at Bedford Middle School that will house all of grades six, seven and eight, leaving the five elementary schools as they currently stand.
“I really hope you’ll consider changing your mind … I really think you owe it to all of us (to) take another vote and look at this information,” said parent Allison Keisman.
Superintendent of Schools Colleen Palmer noted that the request didn’t have to include two portables at Green Farms School, nor the fourth at LLS, and that the number could come down with a single-year rental.
“You have choices … in terms of length of contract and in terms of number of units,” she said.
“I will get the board these tier numbers, (but) as your project manager I’m advising you to move forward with this worst-case scenario,” Drummey said.
Palmer, meanwhile, officially presented her budget proposal for the 2019-20 school year, requesting $119,283,880, which represents a 2.68-percent increase over the current budget.
“This is a very tough budget,” she said, noting it was hard to cut a total of 17.7 full-time employee equivalent in certified and noncertified staff, 12.2 of which she said is due to enrollment.
“It’s very, very difficult when you have great people and you’re downsizing,” she said.
Chairman Mark Mathias noted, however, that at a recent visit to the Board of Education, Brian Stern, Board of Finance chair, said the BOE increase should not exceed the increase to the Grand List.
“The target number they gave us was 1.2 percent … and that’s a gap of $1.6 million in real dollars,” Mathias said.
“So that’s the gap … That was the number he made public,” he said.
The BOE also heard a brief update from Vanessa Valadares on the progress of the Coleytown Middle School Task Force, which is examining the viability of reopening the school by September.
“We’re going to issue a report by the end of the month, as is required,” she said. “I believe we are on schedule for that.”
