Preparations Begun For Two Groton Middle Schools

Groton’s school facilities director has asked a contractor whether portable classrooms at Fitch Middle School could be moved and reassembled in case they’re needed at Cutler and West Side middle schools.

Wes Greenleaf, school district buildings and grounds director, told the Board of Education facilities committee Monday he is trying to make plans so the district has options if it keeps those two schools open.

If the board chooses this, he said the best arrangement would be to place six teams of roughly 100 students each at Cutler and West Side, which would require portable classrooms at both schools.

“We’re laying all the groundwork we can without signing contracts,” he said.

The Groton Board of Education voted Oct. 24 to close one of Groton's three middle schools but has not decided which one to shutter. On Friday, it rank its priorities when deciding which school to close. Completed surveys are due Dec. 16; a decision is expected to be made shortly after.

One of the issues putting time pressure on the school board is the possible need for portable classrooms. Fitch Middle School includes four portables clustered together - two built in 1992 and two built in 1971.

West Side would have some difficulty accommodating portables because of the grounds. The classrooms would probably have to be placed at some distance from the main building, possibly near the basketball court, Greenleaf said.

He outlined other changes at West Side that could be made to accommodate additional students: The technical education space could be divided and turned into two classrooms and a small room for remedial instruction; the staff room could be turned into the school-based health center and the current school health center could be used for guidance.

At Cutler Middle, the four science rooms could be divided into eight classrooms of about 690 square feet, enough to fit 25 students each.

Greenleaf said he believes “it would be a mistake” to invest in new portables, because they are costly and could become an excuse to keep old facilities open. Buying new portables would cost about $730,000 for a four-room unit, he said.

Fitch Middle School is the largest of the three middle schools, so it could accommodate additional students if it were kept open. If more space were needed, the district could also divide the art room at Fitch into two classrooms for additional space, he said.