Big plans for Wethersfield schools

$271M proposal would modernize and expand elementary buildings

Wethersfield’s school system wants a fall referendum on its proposed $271 million modernization of the town’s elementary schools.

After years of study, the school board this month endorsed a plan to replace two schools, renovate and expand two others and shut down the fourth.

Construction would be done in stages over a decade, and in the end about 30% of Wethersfield’s elementary grade students would be transferred to different schools than the ones they attend now, educators said.

The town council heard a presentation last week and expects to decide June 6 whether to schedule a fall referendum on the plan. It also will vote on whether the school administration can submit paperwork for state reimbursement of the first phase of the work; the deadline to be considered for 2023 funding is June 30.

The plan would “incorporate a combination of building new, renovating and contracting from five schools to four,” Superintendent Michael Emmett told the council on May 10.

Planner Patrick Gallagher of the SLAM Collaborative, a Glastonbury architectural firm advising the school board, told the council that long-term enrollment projections for Wethersfield suggest no major increase or decline in elementary-age students over the next decade.

Many other Connecticut communities saw population drops after the 2008 recession, followed by recent upticks, he said. But Wethersfield has stayed relatively consistent, and its overall public school enrollment holds steady at about 1,900, he said.

“You’re a built-out community. We’re not anticipating significant new housing development that would drive enrollment beyond what we’re planning today,” Gallagher said.

However, some sections of town have been drawing more families in recent years, so the enrollment balance between the system’s five schools has been shifting. Most of the schools were built in the 1960s, the newest dates to 1970. Wethersfield could better meet the needs of modern classes and school activities with buildings designed now, educators said.

“One of the keys to this is a move from five elementary schools to four elementary schools. Under the plan we would see new schools built at the Highcrest and Hamner sites,” he told the council.

The plan is to demolish Hamner, which was built in 1967, and Highcrest, built in 1969. Both would be replaced by larger, far more modern buildings on different locations but on the same overall property.

Wethersfield would extensively renovate the Emerson-williams and Webb schools, and close James Wright Elementary School. Before Highcrest is taken offline, it would be the “swing” school accommodating the student body of each of the other schools as they undergo phased construction.

“Going from five to four means that the district will need to redraw the attendance lines. That will occur once the final building project is completed,” Gallagher said.

Peak enrollment at three schools over the next decade is projected to hit in 2028-29: 439 students at Hamner, 463 at Emerson-williams and 461 at Webb. The peak at Highcrest would be 644 in 2023-24, he

said. Highcrest would have four sections at each grade level, while the others would have three.

The Hamner and Highcrest parts of the project would be done first if voters authorize it, according to planners.

Chuck Warrington of Madison-based Colliers Project Leaders, another consultant on the project, said the current cost estimates include projections for stiff inflation in the construction market.

“We’re all seeing what’s going on with (cost) escalation. It’s probably the most volatile time in the market for going out to bid,” Warrington said.

The cost projections are estimating $400 per square foot construction cost, and reflect contractors’ bids for recent, similar projects in the state, he said.

“This reflects bid numbers, not estimates. We carried 8% escalation out to 2025 — that can certainly fluctuate,” he told the council.

For projects that will continue between 2026 and 2029, estimators worked with a 5% annual inflation cost.

Estimators calculate the state government will shoulder $107 million of the cost, leaving Wethersfield taxpayers to cover $164 million.