Voters Green Light School Project
ROCKY HILL - Rocky Hill voters opted overwhelmingly for the construction of a new intermediate school at the former Moser site-one of two referendum ballot questions posed during Tuesday’s election.

       The votes went 5468 for to 3743 against, seeming to echo the outpour of support the proposal-for a $31 million building to accommodate the district’s fourth and fifth grades-expressed at a jam-packed public hearing months ago.

       The referendum’s passage comes as Superintendent Mark Zito warns of projected enrollment increases in a district that has already seen overcrowding at both its elementary schools spill into 14 portable trailer classrooms.

       Of the 187 new students Rocky Hill has seen enter the district in the past two years, 113 came in at the elementary-level, according to Zito.

       Meanwhile, NESDEC is projecting an additional 250 students over the next three years. The town currently has between 1400 and 1500 children under the age of six, according to Zito.

       He’s said that continued enrollment growth could create a strain on spaces such as the schools’ gymnasiums and art classrooms, which would have to be utilized if the population exceeds the district’s ability to add more portables.

       So the district’s plan is to construct an intermediate school for grades 4 and 5-for 580 students total. It’s slated to include six 1200 square foot STEM classrooms, a full-sized gymnasium, and space for World Language instruction-in order to introduce the subject matter to students at a younger age.

       The school would eliminate the need for portable classrooms by taking the two grade levels out of both West Hill and Stevens.

       The blueprint-for a 79,150 square foot building-calls for 26 classrooms total, with two designed to specialize in World Language.

       Zito also envisions adding a couple of soccer/lacrosse fields, to help accommodate Parks and Recreation and athletic programs in town that are already tight on field space.

       With the cost of asbestos abatement factored in, the project as a whole would run for $48 million-before a $17 million state reimbursement, according to consultants from Friar Associates.

       The pre-referendum discussion did bring out a group of concerned seniors, who were worried not only about the property tax impact, but the prioritization of a long-deferred senior center overhaul.

       There are currently around 6,000 seniors in town, and those aged 50 and over are the fastest growing population.

       But the tax impact amounts to $221 more per year for the average $180,000 home-or, $4 more per week-according to Zito, who got the figures from Finance Director and Acting Town Manager John Mehr.

       As for the senior center, the Board of Education supports such an initiative, and hopes that the community as a whole can work together in pursuing eventual approval for both projects, said Board Chair Frank Morse.

      
STORY BY MARK DIPAOLA   |  Nov 22 2016  |  COMMENTS?