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A long-anticipated soundproofing proposal for Walsh Intermediate School came to a screeching halt Wednesday after an architect told the Board of Education (BOE) and two parents that he wouldn’t recommend it because it would require an additional $100,000 in safety code upgrades.
“The work adds up,” said David Stein, an architect with Silver Petrucelli & Associates. He said it was time to move on to an alternate plan.
The soundproofing project, which school officials have called a “band-aid” approach that may not work, was estimated to cost $100,000 just for the fifth-grade classrooms. Walsh was built in 1972 as an open-classroom concept with few interior walls.
The soundproofing holdup wasn’t the only delay brought to the board’s attention. Prior to the meeting, a group of newly-unionized paraprofessionals rallied in the parking lot to express their frustration about the slow pace of contract negotiations.
SOUNDPROOFING PLAN B
Superintendent Hamlet Hernandez said he anticipated there might be problems with the first proposal, and has been working on a Plan B, which he hopes to present in the next two weeks. Hernandez said the plan may involve installing sound attenuation tiles on the ceilings or absorbent materials on the walls. He asked Stein if that would help.
“It will make a major improvement,” Stein said, but added that it would be difficult to determine how much difference it would make. He said either sound panels or simple draperies might help absorb noise.
Nichole Cipriano, (pictured top photo left) a parent who spearheaded the soundproofing issues, said it seems like Plan B is similar to a plan suggested by parents at advisory meetings last year. “So we’re back to where we were last fall,” she said in obvious frustration.
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The BOE and the superintendent had hoped the Plan A project for the fifth-grade wing would be complete before school started in August, but there have been numerous delays.
At last month’s board meeting, Hernandez said it would take a few weeks for the architects to complete the drawings and send them to the State Department of Education (SDE). It would take the SDE up to six weeks to decide whether to grant a waiver since the project would decrease the size of classrooms and hallways, and limit egress. Click here to read that story.
Stein said last night that he believes the state would not approve the waiver.
“Schools are mandated these days to be fully sprinkled,” Stein said. “Every nook and cranny…needs to have a sprinkler head.” He said Walsh does not have sprinklers in the stair towers or the loading dock. In addition, the district would have to undertake other upgrades such as enhancing the smoke detectors and adding handrails in some areas.
Stein said the original soundproofing project would decrease the size of two fifth-grade classrooms to such an extent that smaller furniture may have to be purchased.
Frank Carrano, BOE chair, expressed disappointment that it took this long to find out the plan wouldn’t be feasible.
Cipriano and parent Kate Ross grilled the architect and the board about the delays. Cipriano asked if the paperwork had been filed with the state.
“Technically, from our standpoint, it was filed,” Stein said, but added that the architects asked for more time to gather additional information. “We said, ‘Time out.’”
When Cipriano asked if it’s possible to still pursue getting waivers from the state, Stein said he would not recommend it.
She also suggested that the safety code upgrades be undertaken regardless of which proposal the BOE chooses. “These are pretty serious things…that the school isn’t up to compliance with,” Cipriano said.
Carrano said the school is in compliance because it was built before the code was updated, but the upgrades would have to be done if any significant work is done to the building.
“It begs the issue of short-term and long-term,” Carrano said. He was referring to efforts of the Facilities Committee, which has been discussing options for both Walsh and the aging Sliney Elementary School. Click here to read a story about a recent meeting where renovations were discussed.
Cipriano said she fears that it will take 10 to 15 years to renovate Walsh or construct a new building.
Hernandez said he hopes it won’t take that long. “Many things are coming together and converging. So I am optimistic it won’t be 10 or 15 years,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez said he is in the process of interviewing companies to perform a new enrollment projection study, which is key to any long-range decisions about Walsh. He said the firm who did the previous study said it could complete a new study by November. Hernandez said timing is critical if the board wants to present funding requests to the town in the next budget season.
PARA CONTRACT DELAYS
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Prior to the meeting, about 30 paraprofessionals and sympathizers gathered in the parking lot to express their concerns about delays in contract negotiations for the newly-unionized workers.
They chanted a chorus of “What do we want? A contract. When do we want it? Now.” However, when they entered Walsh, they sat quietly and did not make any comments. They wore pink stickers saying, “Because equity is still an issue.”
Colleen Ezzo, a field organizer for the Local 222 of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, talked with the Eagle in the parking lot.
“We’ve been in negotiations since January,” Ezzo said. “We did expect it would be further along by now. We felt we needed a show of solidarity to let the board know we’re serious.”
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She said both sides met with the state-appointed mediator on August 23, and will meet again on Oct. 4. She said the union was disappointed with the pace of negotiations.
“Right now the group doesn’t have any seniority,” Ezzo said. “We’re looking for fair and equitable wages.”
In addition to seniority and wages, Ezzo said the newly organized workers are requesting the district offer ongoing professional development training.
Ed Gatavaski, a paraprofessional who works with a special education student at the high school, said he was at the rally “to show support for our group.”
About 139 paraprofessionals and lunch aides voted to unionize in June 2011, and union officials at that time said they hoped to have a contract in hand within a year.
Asked to comment on the union’s actions outside the meeting last night, Hernandez told the Eagle this morning:” We have ground rules that both sides adhered to regarding negotiations and I am abiding by them.”
Shortly after the union vote was taken last year, four special education paraprofessionals were terminated, prompting the union to file a series of legal complaints against the BOE. Click here to read the story.
The formal complaints were filed with the state’s Board of Labor Relations, which set in motion a legal process that included a pretrial arbitration hearing. Click here to read the story. It was then that settlement efforts got underway. The four employees were eventually restored to their jobs, presumably with back pay and other benefits they lost. Click here to read the story.
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