Group Organizes To Oppose Groton School Construction Plan

A group of Groton residents has formed to fight the Board of Education’s $133 million school construction project before it appears on the May 2 ballot.

“People are really scared. That’s why this committee was formed," said Andrew Parrella, chairman of a political action committee called Friends For Affordable Education. “I’ve never organized anything so quickly in my life.” 

The group, which formed within two weeks of Representative Town Meeting's vote to a on March 9, is comprised of a bi-partisan mix of residents, according to Parrella. Some members have children in the schools and some do not, but everyone in the group agrees on one thing: this is not the time for Groton to borrow money.

“We have to try to look at the entire picture of all the residents of the town,” said Parrella. “We have people on fixed incomes and people working two jobs, we have to be able to balance this out.” 

Group member Kevin Trejo agrees. “It’s the wrong time for the average person, despite that it seems like right time,”  he said.

Groton is eligible for up to 66 percent of state reimbursement to cover the cost of new construction. The Board’s proposal assumes a conservative 50 percent reimbursement instead, thus reducing the overall bond required to $65.8 million over 20 years. 

According to town documents, the project will have an increasing impact on taxpayers during the first five years of the project. 

For the median home currently assessed at $165, 410, the effect of the project is estimated to be an additional $3.11 in 2012, $26.49 in 2013, $81.55 in 2014, and $161.77 in 2015.

The amount would climb to $231.39 in 2016, with the largest impact hitting in 2017, at $236.26.

“There are too many unknowns,” said Parrella, citing a slow economy and reduced state funding as reasons to oppose taking on more debt. 

But Board of Education member Beth Gianacoplos, a member of the political action committee Taxpayers for Groton Schools II, which supports the proposal said: “Times are tough - we know that.  We’re all taxpayers. If we do nothing now, it’s going to cost us more.” 

State Representative Ed Moukawsher, who represents Groton, confirmed last month that the will decrease for all school projects submitted after June 30, so the outcome of the May referendum is critical to the cost of renovating the town’s schools. 

“The bottom line is, just to fix them up (Fitch Middle School, West Side Middle School and Cutler Middle School) and bring them up to code, is $56 million dollars," Gianacoplos said. “And we’re still left with all (three) buildings.” 

Under the proposal, Fitch Middle School would close, and the seventh and eighth grades would be consolidated into one new building on the site of where Claude Chester Elementary is now standing. West Side Middle School and S.B. Butler Elementary would be converted into early childhood centers.

Pleasant Valley Elementary School would also close.  The remaining elementary schools would house students in second through sixth grades. The plan was designed to reduce the number of buildings and avoid the cost of deferred renovations. 

“I feel like we have really produced a plan that gives us some fiscal relief and we end up with greater strength in the end," said Gianacoplos.

Pat Doyle, a board member and member of Taxpayers For Groton Schools, said the group's goal is to inform voters about the facts of the plan. The bi-partisan group is also comprised of a mix of parents, elected officials and citizens.

Both groups meet regularly and welcome new members. More information about their position and meetings can be found on their websites and facebook pages.