WETHERSFIELD - The Town Council and Superintendent of Schools Michael Emmett were ready to go ahead with the relocation of the Wethersfield Transition Academy, currently housed in the Pitkin Community Center, but a group of concerned parents are urging them to take a step back.

       Parents of students enrolled in the post-high school Transition Academy are objecting to the new 898 Silas Deane Highway location that the Council unanimously approved at its last meeting. Multiple letters from the parents-who claim that they were not asked to weigh-in on the move-were emailed to district personnel and councilors late last week.

       At last Tuesday’s Council meeting, those same parents urged the Council to rescind its approval of the move and the body’s members complied.

       â€�"I think all of us on the Council assumed that all those concerned parents were already on board, and obviously that wasn’t the case,” said Councilor Stathis Manousos, who was not able to attend last Tuesday’s meeting but later expressed his support for the motion. â€�"I think now this is a Board of Education issue, and they need to rethink the original plan.”

       Increased enrollment projections for the Wethersfield Transition Academy is prompting the district to seek a new space to work with post-high school graduate students with Individualized Education Plans, (IEP).

       â€�"It would have been nice to have been informed prior to it being published in the newspaper and for us parents to have been given a chance to give our input and voice our opinions since it is the future of our children,” wrote Lisa Flynn, who has a 16-year-old son with Cerebral Palsy. â€�"We are a group of very involved parents in our children’s lives and education and like every parent we want the best. â€�"This town can do better, and our children deserve better.”

       Parents’ concerned with the location pointed to the fact that the building serves as a commercial shipping/receiving area and that the area is a cut-through point for Route 3 traffic moving toward the Silas Deane Highway.

       Patti Silva, a town resident whose 16-year-old daughter has an IEP, suggested seeking a partnership with Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) in order to better integrate the students into post-high school graduate life.

       She noted that CCSU sends student teachers to the district as part of their training.

       â€�"Maybe it’s time to ask CCSU if they can pay it forward and house the Wethersfield Transition Academy on their campus,” Silva wrote in her letter. â€�"It would be a win-win. Our students would benefit, and so would their whole campus community.”

       The Transition Academy currently has 10 students, ages 18 to 21, and is projected to maintain that enrollment level into this coming fall, but Director of Special Services Emily Daigle expects the addition of nine more next year.

       At Pitkin, 10 students is the maximum capacity. The 7,500-square foot lower level space the district wants to lease at 898 Silas Deane can hold up to 25 students, Emmett said at the previous Council meeting.

       Housing the program in one of the district’s school buildings was not ideal because the primary objective of the Academy is a transition from that setting, Emmett said.

       Taking more students than the Academy’s current spot can fit would require the district to seek outplacement to the tune of tuition cost estimates that range between $500,000 and $1 million, according to Daigle.

       By relocating, the district can instead provide seats for students from other towns and bring in tuition money, Emmett said.

       In an emailed response to Silva and other concerned parents, Daigle defended the location, saying that it provides enough room to fulfill a multitude of program needs while sitting â€�"in the heart of our commercial community.”

       â€�"When preparing our transitioning students for the next step, it is vital that they are making connections and building relationships that could facilitate future employment opportunities, right in their own neighborhoods,” Daigle wrote. â€�"This is a win-win situation. We are casting our net within our own community as we continue to partner with businesses that are local and that are receptive to and willing to improve upon inclusive employment opportunities.”

       The 7,500 square foot space will provide enough room for the Academy to provide a computer area for job searches, two bathrooms, group meeting rooms, a kitchen and a laundry room, among other program needs, Daigle said.

       â€�"This 7,500 square foot space is spacious,” she wrote. â€�"Most importantly these spaces are done. They are already built out and ADA accessible.”

       In an email to Daigle, Mayor Paul Montinieri advised her and Emmett to â€�"revisit” the issue before finalizing the lease in in order to ensure collaboration with concerned Transition Academy families. Parents, along with district personnel, took a tour of the building last Tuesday morning.

       â€�"The inside is beautiful,” Montinieri said during a phone conversation later in the week. â€�"The room is spacious. The bathrooms and kitchen are ideal, but there are some clear impediments to the site that we may or may not be able to overcome. We really had no choice but to put it on hold.”