Gwyneth K. Shaw Photo
Newton: City’s offer “too low.”
The city is negotiating to buy three homes across the West Haven border as the state grants it extra time to secure a spot to build a long-delayed science magnet school near the University of New Haven.
Douglas Newton (pictured) of 34 Rockview St. said he and two neighbors have been negotiating with the city over the past three months over the possible sale of their homes to make way for the Engineering and Science University Magnet School (ESUMS). The school was envisioned in 2005 as a joint effort between New Haven, West Haven and UNH to build the state’s first science-oriented public high school.
“We’re in the process of negotiating and trying to get the numbers right,” Newton said Tuesday.
“The numbers have been low — not what I’ve been looking for,” he said. Newton said one of his neighbors signed off on a deal and the other is still negotiating.
“Eminent domain is a potential” if the talks aren’t successful, said West Haven Mayor John Picard. He said as of now, West Haven has not pursued that option and is letting New Haven negotiate with the property owners.
The “geeky” school, which has emerged as a rising star since its founding in 2008, has been squeezing students into swing spaces as the city perseveres in a difficult quest for a permanent home. Students are now split up into two different buildings as the city tries to secure a suitable spot near the UNH campus.
The city struck a deal in October on an abandoned bowling alley in West Haven to use as a back-up location. However New Haven Public Schools Chief Operating Officer Will Clark has said the area surrounding Newton’s home is the preferred site because it’s closer to the UNH campus.
The school board met Monday behind closed doors to discuss the negotiations. Clark entered the executive session meeting with a map showing homes along Rockview Street; citing delicate negotiations, he declined to share the map with the press or comment for this story.
The Rockview site—one of three the city considered for the school — includes cluster of university properties and homes on the western edge of campus, south of the Boston Post Road.
The site comprises three homes at 34, 38 and 46 Rockview; a vacant lot at 22 Daytona St.; and UNH properties at 2, 4 and 14 Daytona and 3, 7 and 13 Waban St. (They’re pictured in the middle cluster of red markers on the map.)
The Rockview site is “preferred for multiple reasons,” said Picard. It’s adjacent to UNH’s campus, which gives students an on-campus feeling, and easier access to the school. To get to the bowling alley site, kids would have to cross busy Boston Post Road, which Picard pointed out.
“It makes much more sense on the campus, and it’s a lot safer for the kids,” the mayor said.
The school currently serves 240 students in grades 6 to 9. It plans to expand each year until it serve 616 students in grades 6 to 12 from New Haven, West Haven and other towns.
Meanwhile, the state has extended the deadline for New Haven to break ground on the school. New Haven got state approval in 2008 for state funding for a $66.5 million school, as long as the city broke ground before April 2012. The city originally feared it would lose its 95 percent state reimbursement rate if it passed that deadline.
The state legislature rescued the project this year. It gave New Haven permission to extend the start of construction deadline from April 1, 2012 to June 30, 2014. The permission came through Public Act 12 – 179. The bill allowed the city to keep state funding for the project with the same reimbursement rate, according to state Department of Administrative Services spokesman Jeffrey Beckham.
Parent leader Dawn Gibson-Brehon, who has been closely following the site selection process, said she believes all parties — the Boards of Ed and mayors in West Haven and New Haven, as well as the university — are working well together. Gibson-Brehon has one child in the 7th-grade at ESUMS.
“For a lot of parents who have been waiting for a long time,” she said, “we’re hopeful that with UNH’s involvement, that this project will get moving at a good pace.”
Past stories on ESUMS:
• City Strikes Deal For ESUMS Land
• After Parents Fight Move, ESUMS Stays Put
• Parents Oppose School’s Move
• Science Magnet School Relocates Again
• City Looks West For New School Site
• After Layoffs, Schools Reshuffle
• A Rush To Dig
• A New Star School; Warnings About Others
• Science High’s Ready, With An Arabic Twist