The plan between the town of Stratford and Stratford Public Schools to renovate Stratford High School was put on hold on Jan. 30 as Superintendent of Schools Dr. Janet Robinson found that some questions normally covered in a project’s due diligence phase could not be answered.
Tentative renovation plans began to form in 2011 but never got to the stage of final plans and drawings.
Robinson, who came to the Stratford district last July, said the project was not on its original timeline, so when she met with town officials, it was asked if all options had been explored and if there were any other sites available for a new high school.
Those questions could not be answered, so a new subcommittee is being formed to explore those questions and more, she said.
Joe Crudo, who continues to serve on the Board of Education’s plant and planning committee and who was a four-year board member until December, when his term expired, attended the Jan. 30 meeting and said that a number of officials are concerned that the renovation plan does not address the desire of some to have more of a campus around Stratford High School.
He said other sites will be looked at, including the town’s 14-acre Shakespeare Theatre property.
Board of Education Chairman Andrea Veilleux said that she, too, wonders if the renovation plan is still the best approach. “We found that due diligence was not done,” Veilleux said, so now an analysis will be done, including enrollment, square footage, the current reimbursement rates from the state, and what other land is available.
“I am pleased to have the board work with town on shared vision,” said Veilleux. “We want to be in alignment with the town. This is a positive move.”
It was not immediately clear why the “due diligence” apparently was not completed. Gavin Forrester, who served as Board of Education chairman until December, when his term expired, said, “The project is under the purview of the Town Council and the mayor’s office, as capital projects are not authorized by the BOE.”
The mayor’s chief of staff, Marc Dillon, said he could not answer who had the responsibility for the due diligence and referred the question back to the Board of Education.
Through Dillon, Mayor John Harkins made this statement:
“It is important that the Board of Education be comfortable with any renovation at Stratford High School, especially from a design and programming point of view. If the board wishes to look deeper into their options before moving forward, they have my support to do so.”
