The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Middle school under the microscope
Talks of redistricting students continue
TORRINGTON — The Board of Education ad-hoc redistricting committee is planning to take a closer look at Torrington Middle School as the process of reconfiguring the city schools continues.
Committee members decided Thursday evening to schedule a visit to TMS next week and postpone a planned excursion to Forbes School.
The decision was prompted by a third option for the redistricting of the city schools, which board Chairwoman Fiona Cappabianca said was proposed at the previous meeting.
Under this idea, sister schools would be established, as in what has been termed option two — Vogel-Wetmore and Torringford would house younger students, who would then move on to Southwest and Forbes respectively.
But under the third option, Vogel-Wetmore and Torringford would house pre-K through second grade; third and fourth-graders would attend Forbes and Southwest; and the fifth grade would move to Torrington Middle School.
This would prompt 353 students to move to TMS. There is sufficient capacity at the school to hold the new cohort, according to the district — 1,033 students attend classes there this year, and there’s room for 1,400.
Middle school staffers voiced concerns about the move, saying there are not many unused classrooms in the building. Assistant Principal Charlie McSpiritt explained the situation — if you added six children to every classroom, give or take, there’s the excess capacity.
As theorized, Superintendent Denise Clemons said the fifth-grade would be separated on its own floor at the middle school.
Clemons said the shift would allow them to become accustomed to the middle school environment, but still have their own space, including a single classroom for their education, before entering the larger flow of students.
A quick analysis from All-Star Transporation suggested transportation costs would not rise as dramatically if the third option was put into place, Clemons said — an increase of $275,000 to $385,000 was estimated, as compared to $850,000 under option two.
The committee did not choose a direction to move forward with Thursday, as
Cappabianca informally gauged the temperature in the room.
“I think, with the addition of a third option, we have some more thinking to do,” Cappabianca said.
The redistricting committee was formed after the Board of Education voted in November to close East School beginning in the 2018-19 fiscal year.
Board member Peter Vergaro reminded the committee of the rationale for this decision and the ensuing process during Thursday’s meeting.
There is excess room in
the buildings, Vergaro said. The decision to go ahead without closing a school would damage the quality of education in the city. As is, rising costs — insurance, contractural obligations— are outstripping any increase in the budget, leading to less money being spent on the city’s young people.
“Every year, we take more and more money away from programs and kids, and the things that we can do to educate our students. And it’s just a fiscal reality,” said Vergaro. “So, as a board member, when I sit there and I see that we’re operating more buildings than we need, and I know the real cost to education that that
imposes, the decision came up that we need to close a building.”
He said East School was the choice, as it would be prohibitively expensive to renovate at this time, and further damage education in the city. Renovating the school entirely is estimated to cost approximately $41.4 million, or $18 million after state reimbursement, according to former board member Ken Traub. At least $4.4 million in repairs are required in the near-term.
Other matters at play, including the idea of balancing the racial makeup of the schools, are secondary — things that can be addressed while dealing with this larger issue.
Two other options have been put forward at this point for redistricting.
Under option one, four elementary schools would be established — Forbes, Southwest, Torringford and VogelWetmore — and existing boundaries shifted.
Under option two, termed the “sister school” model, K-3 students would be split between Vogel-Wetmore and Torringford. Vogel-Wetmore students would move on to Southwest for grades four and five, while Torringford students would go to Forbes.