Sam Gurwitt Photo
Superintendent Jody Goeler.
When Hamden Legislative Council members took a look at a years-long school district restructuring plan, they mostly liked it, save for one detail — the $30 million price tag.
In November, the Hamden Board of Education voted to approve a “3R Initiative” to restructure the school district in order to meet a state racial balancing statute, save costs as enrollment declines, and place Hamden at the cutting edge of management. The plan will close two elementary schools, turn others into intra-district magnet schools, incorporate the Wintergreen school building into the district, bring sixth graders to the middle school, and introduce universal pre‑K.
Read previous articles about the plans here and here.
Tuesday night the council, meeting as a “committee of the whole,” voted after a presentation by Superintendent Jody Goeler to approve the plan. Now the council has to vote one more time, as the official council, to OK it.
As Goeler told the Legislative Council, the plan addresses a number of factors that will require changes to the district in the next few years all at once, while maximizing state aid.
Director of Town/BOE Legislative Affairs and BOE member Walter Morton explained that the state’s Office of School Construction Grants has said that if the town can get its plans to the state by the June 30 deadline, it will commit to funding it at the level it has promised — 67 percent. He said that the state have been supportive of the 3Rs even in an era of Gov. Ned Lamont’s “debt diet,” and that it sees the project as a potential model for other towns in Connecticut.
In total, the projects will cost around $81 million. The state, if it keeps its promises, will pay for around $53 million, leaving $28.5 million for the town. Of that, Hamden has already approved bonding $12 million, for the West Woods School and for Alice Peck.
The BOE made a case to the council that the plan takes a creative approach to solving the problems that the town faces, will make the district more sustainable in the long-run, and will attract people to Hamden.
“Hamden right no is faced by a lot of short-term and long-term issues. This plan addresses all of those needs. It is something that can be a model” for other towns in the state, said Council President Mick McGarry.
Others worried about the cost.
“I think it’s a wonderful plan. I just don’t know if we can do it right now. I would like to drive a Cadillac, but I’m driving a Ford. That’s just the way it goes,” said Betty Wetmore, one of two Republicans on the council.
Debt
Council members Cory O’Brien, Jim Pascarella, Mick McGarry, and Eric Annes.
When council members arrived at the council chamber on Tuesday for the meeting, in addition to the 3R outline they had on their desks, they had an analysis from the town’s Finance Department of how the town would pay for it.
“It is intimidating to look at how much this is going to contribute to our debt service over the next 30 years,” said District 9 Rep. Brad Macdowall.
Hamden currently has a total of $308 million of debt to pay off ($300 million currently in the debt service, $8 million in approved capital projects that have not yet been rolled in to the debt service).
In the debt analysis that Deputy Finance Director Rick Galarza presented to the council, the town would bond for $31 million for the 3Rs, which includes a 10 percent contingency in case construction costs exceed expectations. Galarza said that the forecast he put together “is on the conservative side,” with a high assumed interest rate.
According to the town’s charter, the debt service cannot exceed 10 percent of the town’s budget in a fiscal year. Galarza’s debt forecast showed that even with the addition of the 3Rs, the town would remain below its 10 percent ceiling, even if the town’s budget remained flat, which it in all likelihood will not. As the budget grows, the 10 percent debt ceiling grows, meaning that there would likely be more room than the forecast showed. Even if the budget remained flat, it also showed that the town could bond an additional $10 million each year (to be paid out of the course of many years) on top of everything without reaching the debt ceiling
Though the plan will mean increasing the town’s debt, it could also attract families to Hamden, padding the town’s grand list.
In Hamden, said McGarry, which has very little industrial property, “real estate value really matters” for bringing in tax dollars. And to increase real estate value, he said, the town needs to attract people.
“This is what we have. Education,” he said.
The Plan
Silver and Petrucelli
Total project costs summary.
The BOE’s plan would involve changes at every elementary school in the district, and at the middle school. Church Street and Shepherd Glen would close, and Church Street would become BOE office space. The improvements to the building would cost around $1 million, though the town would cover only around $640,000 of it. The board has not yet determined the fate of the Shepherd Glen building. 60 Putnam Ave, where the BOE offices currently have their home, would be turned over to the town.
It would turn four schools into intra-district magnet schools, which would draw students from all over the town. One of the motivating factors for the plan is a state statute that requires racial balance between schools in a district. In 2018, the state notified Hamden that three of its schools had “pending imbalances:” Church Street, Helen Street, and Shepherd Glen.
The board could just carry out traditional redistricting, but board members and Goeler said that the magnet school approach could prove more effective in the long run, and would not involve forcing people to switch schools.
The board “wanted a more organic approach to balance our schools racially,” said Morton. He said that drawing lines is a long and ugly process.
Board Member Myron Hul said that simply redrawing the attendance zone lines could require the board to move 40 – 50 percent of some schools, and that that was unacceptable to the board.
What the board has learned in the 3R process, said Goeler, is that families love their schools and don’t want to move. He said that he and the board think the magnet schools could achieve the same racial balance without having to force families to leave their schools.
The board’s plan would make an extended day “career pathways” magnet at Helen Street, with programming from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. so that parents could have all-day childcare. The program would introduce students to career paths and help them develop skills that will help them exceed in the work world.
Ridge Hill would have a “global studies and citizenship” theme, with K‑5 foreign language instruction and a focus on politics and other parts of the world.
The plan would give Dunbar Hill steam with a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, math) theme.
Bear Path would have an environmental sciences theme, with outdoors-oriented field trips and activities.
Though each of the magnet schools would still have its own smaller attendance zone, the board would reserve a large portion of the spots for kids from other parts of the district. Families would apply to send their kids to one of the magnet schools, and the board would determine who is chosen by a weighted lottery to ensure the desired racial balance.
Ridge Hill and Dunbar Hill would require significant renovations. Each school would cost around $17 million, though the state would pay for 67 percent, leaving the town with around $5.5 million for each.
Plans for the middle school renovations.
The plan would add a new wing to the middle school, expand the cafeteria, and add an auxiliary gym, costing around $11 million, with the town paying $4 million. It would also add pre‑K to Bear Path, Ridge Hill, and Spring Glen, costing $15,000 at both Bear Path and Spring Glen with no state reimbursement, and around $1 million at Ridge Hill on top of the cost of the other renovations, with the town paying for around $300,000.
The plan also incorporates $26 million of renovations at West Woods and $6.5 million at Alice Peck, both of which were approved a few years ago. The town would pay $11 million for West Woods and $1.3 million for Alice Peck.
Goeler said that regardless of whether the council approves the 3Rs, Ridge Hill, Dunbar Hill, and a few other buildings will require renovations in the next few years. One of the slides he showed the council gave a cost analysis of doing work on both schools, along with the central offices and the Wintergreen school. In total, the slide showed, it would come to $16.6 million. With the 3Rs (excluding West Woods and Alice Peck), the town would carry out more renovations for $16.5 million because of the high state reimbursement percentage.
Myron Hul.
It’s a plan to make Hamden education better “33 cents on the dollar,” said Hul. On top of that, “it is a great marketing tool for the town.”
The council at large will vote on the plan at its May 20 meeting. If it passes, the BOE can then get its plans to the state by the June 30 deadline.