A special meeting of the Stratford Board of Education has been called for Friday, April 11, for the purpose of deciding between the options of renovating Stratford High School or building a new high school possibly on Longbrook Park property, Board of Education Chairman Andrea Veilleux confirmed.
The special meeting, which is open to the public, will be held at Board of Education headquarters at 1000 East Broadway starting at 4 p.m. on the 11th, according to the notice distributed on April 9.
Veilleux said that she plans for the meeting to have discussion of both options and then a vote to choose one or the other.After the board vote, Veilleux said she plans to have the board send their recommendation to the Town Council’s Building Needs Committee for consideration and action.
Responsibility for school building issues in Stratford is split — the BOE determines its needs, preferences and educational specifications required, but the Town of Stratford owns the properties, has final approval authority, and manages construction and renovation projects.
The BOE’s Plant and Planning Committee met in the past week and had preliminary discussions on the options, Veilleux said. Details from that meeting were not immediately available.
BOE Chief Operating Officer Clarence Zachery said that he expects the meeting discussion to include also the results of the schools’ exploration of other possible sites for a new high school.
Time is of the essence, said Zachery, because decisions need to be made before the end of June. He explained that the state grant money that was obtained for a Stratford High renovation plan, which has been is various stages of planning for about three years, was contingent upon construction beginning by June 2014. Because that is not feasible at this point Zachery said that the Town would need to apply for an extension by June 30 in order not to lose that grant money. First, then, the Town must decide if it wants to stick with the renovation plan or drop it and go with a build-new plan.
The board chose not to wait for its next regular meeting on April 28 to take up the renovate or build-new question.
The major building-related issue has come up during what some are seeing as a contentious budget season, with the Board of Education requesting a $5.2 million budget increase for 2015, Mayor John Harkins recommending a $2.3 million increase for the schools, and the Town Council working to come up with a final budget that will be approved by the 10-person Council.
Under the mayor’s proposal the town would see an overall budget increase of $11.5 million and a mill rate increase of 5.7%.
Zachery said the timing of this building question is driven by the June deadline for dealing with pre-approved state grant monies, and “We can’t control state deadlines.”
