Building grants could be on the way to area schools
School construction projects in Danbury, Brookfield and New Fairfield are on their way to receiving state grants.
The state House approved early Thursday morning a bill that gives Brookfield $16.7 million for its new elementary school and New Fairfield $23.8 million for its new high school, in addition to $11.2 million to expand its elementary school.
The state Senate is expected to take up the bill Thursday.
The legislation includes language that would allow Danbury to receive funds for a proposed career academy for middle and high school students. The state would cover 80 percent of the estimated $45 million cost—a higher reimbursement rate than the city typically sees.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled to see our Danbury Career Academy poised to move this much-anticipated plan forward,” State Rep. David Arconti, D-Danbury, said in a statement. “Our local school population is overcrowded. This project
will help us address this concern while giving all our local students the best possible educational opportuni
ties they can get.”
The academy would help address enrollment growth and be built in the Summit @ Danbury — the former 1.2 million-square-foot Matrix building that has been mostly vacant for years.
This would be the first time the state permits grants for school projects renovated within an existing space using the “design build” method. The bill creates a pilot program for these types of projects.
Danbury has not officially applied for the grant yet. The city must do so before Oct. 1, 2021, the bill states.
Brookfield plans to start construction on its $78.1 million school for pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in the spring. Once completed, the district will demolish the outdated Huckleberry Hill Elementary School and vacate the aging Center Elementary School.
New Fairfield will build a new $84.2 million high school on property near the existing building, plus expand Meeting House Hill School so students can leave the declining Consolidated School.
Darien, Mansfield, New Britain, Fairfield, Manchester, Hamden, Norwalk and Winchester also earn grants under the bill.