School officials back plan for 2 new magnet schools
STAMFORD — Stamford Board of Education members are contemplating a new configuration for the city school district, which could see the creation of several K-8 buildings and a reduction in the number of traditional elementary schools.
The new model is being considered in conjunction with the city administration’s proposed publicprivate partnership model, in which several schools would be demolished, rebuilt and maintained by a private developer.
Superintendent Tamu
Lucero introduced a new plan this week that would convert Toquam Magnet Elementary School, Hart Elementary School and Roxbury Elementary School into K-8 schools.
The three school buildings would be demolished and rebuilt on their current campuses — as would
Westhill High School.
Meanwhile, a new magnet middle school specializing in career and technical education would be built at Cloonan Middle School, and an additional magnet school would be constructed in the South End.
But before this week, only one school reconfiguration option had been presented to the public.
That option called for Toquam to move from Springdale to the South End, while Roxbury would be combined into a K-8 campus with Cloonan, on the middle school’s current campus. Hart and Westhill would be rebuilt on their own sites.
School board members, meeting Thursday night, clearly favored the new option over the former.
One of the attractive aspects of the new plan is that the state would conceivably fund part of both magnet schools.
Board President Andy George said Stamford’s growing population should give the city a leg up when going to the state for school funding.
“We are the second largest city now in the state and they really do need to do something for us,” he said.
Superintendent of Schools Tamu Lucero said the reason so many K-8 schools were included was because of the increased enrollment in the district.
This school year, the enrollment increased by 570 students compared to the year before. In years past, the surges would typically be in the 100-200 range.
Members of the board showed support for the K-8 model because it would mean fewer transitions for students.
Lucero presented several possible configurations for a remade school district this week. School board members seemed most enthusiastic to the new “Option D” model, with the three K-8 buildings and the new magnet middle school; but they also liked an “Option B” plan, in which Cloonan would be wiped out, turning it into available land for city use. Meanwhile, Roxbury, Hart and Toquam would be converted into K-8 schools and rebuilt on their own sites. Westhill would also be rebuilt in its current location.
The other possibility, “Option C,” was dubbed the “status quo” alternative by Lucero. It would allow all of the aforementioned five schools to stay in place and be rebuilt, while catering to current grade levels.
The public-private plan calls for selling the aging public school buildings to a private developer for $1 each. Then, the developer would rebuild the schools, then lease them back to the city.