Wethersfield likely to send $279 million in school improvements to referendum
An ambitious, multi-year, $279 million project to improve four of the town’s schools will be likely to go before Wethersfield voters this November.
The Town Council voted 5-1-1 in favor of three motions needed to proceed with sending the project to voters, including several grant applications to offset the cost. Hammer and Highcrest schools would receive new structures adjacent to existing buildings, after which the current buildings would be demolished. Emerson-Willams School would be renovated as new, as would Samuel Webb Elementary School. The plan would result in the closing and demolition of Charles Wright Elementary School, sometime in the years 2030-32.
The district’s share of the total project costs is estimated at $164 million, with an expected state reimbursement of $107 million, with bonding interest accounting for the remainder.
Grants being applied for include those to the Commissioner of State Administrative Services.
Highcrest School fifth grader Avery Kumnick urged voters to vote yes, citing small classrooms and other conditions.
“We use every space at the school,” she said. “Sometimes I even have meet with my teachers in a small room that used to be a closet. We are cramped up when we try to learn.”
Another Highcrest student, Kaleb Kropfer, said he and his fellow students who have special needs, who routinely visit school psychologist Kristin Rodriguez and school social worker Sarah Waltman, do not have the comfortable and safe spaces they need.
“Me, and other students like me, often need to be in a space where we can run around, cry, or just let out our negative energy,” he said. “Unfortunately, our school is so small, that Ms. Rodriguez and Miss Waltman do not have big enough spaces for this to happen.”
Residents such as Robert Young said they had trouble with the high price tag, wherever the money comes from.
“All of us who work - we pay state taxes, town taxes, and federal taxes. This is a tremendous amount of more burden put on us. We should have been looking at something more moderate, like fixing up or adding onto one or two of the buildings,” Young said.
Resident Bob Woodward said he wanted to see better balance, and was concerned what the project would do to the town’s mill rate.
“I don’t doubt the schools need the work, but what’s it going to do to the mill rate?” he said. ”I don’t know what $168 million means for my tax rate in the coming years.”
Council member Matthew Forrest said there are always reasons to put off spending, but now is a good time to at least let voters decide.
“I’m not afraid for our buildings to represent that we cherish education, that we support education, and we know that we pay taxes and are willing to put our money where our mouth is,” Forrest said. “All we’re really doing today is giving the people the ultimate decision here.”
Deputy Mayor Tom Mazzarella said the mill rate could add up to 6 mills for residents, and that he felt simpler repairs could take place of the major renovations.
“Most people who own a home in Wethersfield, when things go wrong, they fix them. They don’t knock the house down and put up a new house. It’s just not practical. I think there are other ways to do this,” Mazzarella said.
For more information, visit www.wethersfieldct.gov.
