Groton School Board To Consider Closing A Middle School

Superintendent Paul Kadri outlined the options for closing one of Groton’s middle schools this week, and the board of education is expected to make a decision at its next meeting on whether to have three Groton middle schools or two.

Of the three, West Side Middle may be the least likely to close, because it would be the most difficult to arrange transportation and could create racial imbalance, according to Kadri’s initial conversation with the board. West Side is 56.9 percent minority and provides additional services to children such as a school-based health center.

The board reviewed data at its committee of the whole meeting Tuesday, but did not vote. The next regular meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Oct. 24 in the administrative offices on Flanders Road. The plan is to vote first on whether to have two schools, then vote at a later date on which school to close.

Board Member Chaz Zezulka said putting off the decision is almost worse than making one. He said he'd rather vote, hear the community’s reaction and respond.

“We can’t keep revisiting this and revisiting this and revisiting this. I’m frustrated, people,” he said.

Groton is because the buildings are under enrolled, old and expensive to run. Data from earlier this year estimated it cost $2.7 million more to keep three schools open instead of two.

Board member Robert Peruzzotti, said he won’t propose a budget with multi-million increase, and taxpayers won’t have it.

Of the three schools, West Side enrolls the fewest students; it has 276 students but capacity for 418. The site cannot accommodate portable classrooms, however, if its population is increased.

Cutler Middle School is the closest of the three to its capacity. It enrolls 351 students and has space for 403, but the site can accommodate portables, Kadri said.

is the largest of the three schools and has the most space, but is also the oldest building.  It was built in 1928, with separate elementary and high school entities before merging together in the 1950s as a junior high school. The school has 409 students enrolled and capacity for 592.

Middle school enrollment is expected to remain relatively flat, then show a slight increase in the next five years, Kadri said. Groton has about 1,030 middle school students.

Regardless of which school is closed, Kadri said the town will have to reach a consensus on how the two remaining ones are run. Each of the schools also has its own culture, structure and programs, he said. For example, Fitch Middle School uses a software program that the other two schools do not use.

“While we have excellent teachers at all three schools, we have observed a proprietary nature at all of the schools,” Kadri wrote in a summary distributed to the board.

Racial balance is also likely to play a role in the decision.

If Cutler Middle School and Fitch Middle School remain open, Cutler would be 81.3 percent white, while Fitch would be 51.2 percent white, a difference of almost 30 percent, according to data provided to the board.

The state looks at public schools across districts and grades to determine racial balance; a school is determined to be out of balance if minority enrollment in a specific grade at a school is more than 25 percentage points below or above the district average. It was unclear whether closing West Side would polarize schools and violate this rule.

The board could have new faces before the final decision is made.

Five seats on the school board are up for re-election on Nov. 8, and there may be turnover.

Member Beverly Washington, whose term ends in 2013, said this shouldn’t affect the timing of the decision.

“I don’t think it should be a rush process because now we’re afraid we’re going to get new board members, let’s jam this through,” she said.

Some students have already been moved in Groton.  The students from the former Noank, Colonel Ledyard and Eastern Point schools are in grades 4 or above now, Kadri said.  William Seely and Groton Heights students are in grades 9 and above or 8 and above, respectively.

In total, there are 171 students who have already been moved, Kadri said.