A $400,000 Board of Education request to help cover mold remediation costs at Westport’s Coleytown Middle School (CMS) seemed tame compared to what the future might hold -— up to $70 million for a new, mold-free school.
But the lower cost did not mean a rubber stamp from the Representative Town Meeting (RTM) tonight. Several members offered caveats and suggestions to the school board before the legislative body approved the appropriation by a vote of 30 to 0 with 2 abstentions
“I really hope you will make it a priority to do a full study of all the facilities,” said RTM member Wendy Batteau, adding that the town should not be taken by surprise with mold issues at other schools.
Batteau echoed a suggestion made earlier by RTM member Seth Bronstein.
Lee Arthurs of District 8 said the school board could use its carry-over account to pay for the bulk of the cost, but he did not favor that solution.
According to Elio Longo, the $400,000 will help cover $684,568 mold remediation costs to date. He said the school board plans to request the remaining $284,568 from the Board of Finance on Wednesday.
Lisa Parelli Gray of District 4 asked Longo if insurance would pay for any part of the cost. Longo said he is waiting to hear back from Chubb Insurance.
RTM member Catherine Calise questioned Mark Mathias, school board chairman, about spending money on a building with an uncertain future.
An architects’ report last week stunned school and town officials with the news that major renovations in the 1960s-built structure to the need to construct a new school could range from $25 million to $70 million.
Meanwhile, the school board also faces the cost of acquiring six modular classrooms to house CMS’s 500 students relocated to Bedford Middle School and Staples High School.
“Our plans are to keep the building, so it doesn’t get worse, to keep it (the mold) at bay” said Mathias.
“We’re basically preventing it from getting worse at this point,” he added.
RTM member Peter Gold asked Longo, “If you get the insurance money, do we get the money back?”
Longo said he could not speak for the school board, but he pointed out that the Board of Education this year returned $562,000 in insurance proceeds to the town’s general fund.
This story has been updated to correct Lee Arthurs’ comments.
—James Lomuscio
