Jefferson School construction could be delayed by overflow classes
NORWALK — The district’s decision to use the Jefferson School building for overflow classes this year may affect future constrution plans at the school.
Jefferson students were relocated to the lower school of Ponus Ridge Middle School this year with plans for them to remain there for two school years while Jefferson was updated to
include more classroom space and a new gymnasium.
However, before the beginning of the school year, Norwalk Public Schools said fourth- and fifth-graders from Silvermine Dual Language Magnet Elementary School would be moved to the Jefferson building to allow for social distancing in the classroom. The original plan was to have 300 fourth- and fifth-grade students from three Norwalk elementary schools in the building.
The district plans to keep students at Jefferson until the end of the 2020-2021 school year, which means the construction manager will not have full access to the building until June 2021. This could delay construction and up costs on the project, according to Building and Facilities Manager Alan Lo, since the district will be already paying salaries for people involved before the project begins.
Lo said at last week’s Building and Land Use Committee meeting he has not calculated how much this could cost, but estimated it could be about $50,000.
“There’s a financial cost to not starting,” Lo said. “It’s not substantial. At the same time, the earlier we get that building back for construction, the less costly it is for the project. At some point, we are holding off the construction and still going out to bid.”
Jim Giuliano, president of Construction Solutions Group, the facility project manager for the construction, said the project is still moving forward on schedule. The construction documents are expected to be completed in December and bidding will begin in January. The project is still slated to be finished
in time for the start of the 20222023 school year.
Lo added the plan is to still go to bid in January since construction pricing is more competitive due to COVID-19.
Giuliano said exterior construction could begin in June to accommodate students still in the building. The construction manager is considering spending the time working on the gymnasium and removing the current portable classrooms.
“We want to start the project so the money’s not wasted.” Lo said. “Either way we can use them to get some early work, but to start construction is more cost effective.”
Investigatory work for the project has been happening at the building around the schedule of the students and staff located there.
The district is also moving forward with plans for other school construction projects, including meeting with staff and architects for the new Cranbury School plans and designing the new cafeteria for Naramake. The latter will be constructed in phases, it was determined, to also accommodate students and staff still in the building.