BOE discusses schools’ capacity

Closures a possibility

TORRINGTON >> Board of Education member Peter Vergaro discussed the capacity of Torrington’s elementary school buildings last Wednesday evening, providing the full board with further data as the board continues to discuss redistricting.

Vergaro gave a presentation on the work of the Capacity Committee, which met in recent months as the board began to again weigh the possibility of redistricting.

According to Vergaro, there are a total of 143 potential classroom spaces in the elementary schools — 34 each at Torringford and Vogel-Wetmore, 24 at Forbes, 23 at Southwest, and 28 at East School.

This does not include the possibility of renovation at East School or portable classrooms in the courtroom at Torringford, according to documentation provided by Vergaro.

If fifth-grade students began attending classes at Torrington Middle School and eighth-graders moved to Torrington High School, 92 classrooms would be needed across the district to house elementary school classes and keep the current student/teacher ratio, Vergaro said.

He cautioned that these numbers are not exact because there are varying specificities to consider when altering the use of rooms, and altering the layout of city schools would “cause pain” to the various institutions, he said.

“It’s not like there are empty rooms sitting there that can just be used as classroom(s),” said Vergaro. “It will mean that a school that has a spacious band room and a spacious choral room may have to do a (multi-purpose) one, and then one will get converted back (into) a classroom.”

Classroom space alone is not sufficient for the district to operate, Vergaro noted. Special education spaces, among others, are needed.

Other issues that could factor into board decision-making, Vergaro said, include the student-toteacher ratio and the future of preschool classes in the district.

“There’s just a ton of things that will have an impact on how many classrooms you need in the district,” said Vergaro.

A firm direction from the board, Vergaro said, is needed before a plan can be created from this analysis.

Superintendent Denise Clemons put forward two initial options for redistricting the city schools last Wednesday, and put a student and parent survey to further refine the options on the table.

Under the first possibility put forward by Clemons, East School would be closed, as well as the administrative offices at Migeon Avenue.

Students now attending East School would be moved to Vogel-Wetmore and Torringford, Clemons said.

The second option put forward by Clemons would see East School renovated. Students would be distributed among the other city elementary schools while the work is ongoing, and the possibility of moving the fifth-grade to Torrington Middle School — which would allow for the closure of Vogel-Wetmore, as described — would be on the table, as would be shifting the eighth-grade to Torrington High School.

“Either of these options would be Phase I and allow the administration an opportunity to thoroughly review the state’s recommendation for a solution regarding racial imbalance and equity in the schools and develop a plan for Phase II,” said Clemons in a written statement.