Buckley Elementary opens Tuesday

Sep. 1—MANCHESTER — The newly renovated Buckley Elementary School will be ready to open Tuesday for the 2022-23 school year, school officials say.

About 340 students in Grades K-4 are expected to move back in to the school at 250 Vernon St. after being temporarily housed during the massive renovation in the Robertson Elementary School building on North School Street.

The new Buckley is one of the first schools in the state to produce net-zero emissions, leveraging geothermal wells for heating and cooling and solar panels for electricity.

Buckley Principal Ann Johnston said officials expect the SmartFlower solar tracker, which will follow the sun throughout the day to generate solar energy, will be delivered and installed early next year.

Johnston said a group of third-grade students did a research project on geothermal energy that was presented to the Board of Education.

"They interviewed the architect, they did a lot of research, so we have some experts on hand," Johnston said of her students.

In 2019, Manchester voters approved spending $93 million for the SMARTR2 project that included major renovations of Bowers, Buckley, and Keeney elementary schools, as well as planning for work at Nathan Hale, Martin, Robertson, and Washington schools.

Of the total, $88 million was bonded and $5 million comes from reserve funds allocated to the projects.

Superintendent Matthew Geary said Buckley's renovations cost $27 million in total, but the town won't pay the entire bill.

"We get reimbursed between 55 to 65% from the state, so the cost to local taxpayers is a little under $13 million," Geary said.

Johnston said the school has 18 classrooms, split between Grades K-4 and the District Wide Learning Center program.

Johnston said that program is designed for students who need extra support to help them learn and ultimately, integrate into standard classrooms.

Other features of the building include a STEAM lab, separate playgrounds for younger and older children, and a gymnasium with a rock-climbing wall.

Johnston said she is more than satisfied with the building, and expects students will share the sentiment.

"It's gorgeous, it does not disappoint," Johnston said.

Geary, who gave a presentation on the project and the start of the school year Monday at a Board of Education meeting, said overall, the district is returning to normal.

The majority of COVID-19 procedures and restrictions will be lifted for the 2022-23 school year, including remote learning, social distancing, and mandatory masking, he said.

"We're hoping that the impact of COVID is substantially less this year — we'll see how that goes," Geary said.

Geary said classrooms would continue to be provided with hand sanitizer, wipes, and disposable masks. Ventilation and airflow would also be monitored in all school buildings, he said.

Geary said that because the Manchester Preschool Center receives a special form of federal funding that the other school don't, masks are still required in the Head Start program, and Head Start staff are required to be vaccinated or have an exemption.

Geary said Bennet Academy had a few "substantial" vacancies in its staffing, but staff vacancies in schools throughout town are filled or nearly full across the board.

He said that roughly two out of every seven staff are new hires, but the district's staffing level is "not in any worse shape" than last year.

Manchester Public Schools announced this month that the district would be using First Student as its bus company for the next three years.

Geary said today that with the new company, busing is in good shape thus far.

Joseph covers East Hartford and South Windsor. He joined the JI in July 2021. Joseph graduated from the University of Connecticut and he is an avid guitarist and coffee enthusiast.