Residents Tour Groton Middle Schools

School Facilities Director Wes Greenleaf led a tour Saturday of Groton's three middle schools, so residents could see for themselves what building improvements are needed and what would change under middle school consolidation.

Eight people attended the tour, including members of the political action committee Friends for Affordable Education and members of Representative Town Meeting.

Town Councilor Deborah Peruzzotti said she attended to understand better what the schools are dealing with.

"It just helps me personally to try to prioritize importance," she said. "I always say, 'Is it a need? Or a want?'"

Neal Gardner, a member of Representative Town Meeting, said he believes the the town could improve its situation by letting go of some buildings to fix others.

"The problem is, we keep ending up with empty buildings," he said. "Some of these buildings should be sold, and the money used to maintain the buildings that we have."

A snapshot of some improvements needed at each middle school are listed below:

Cutler Middle School (Built in 1960; additions in 1962 and 1968.)

• Install fire sprinklers, rescue windows and a fire alarm system.

• Bring school into compliance with handicapped accessibility codes.

• Install security cameras, electronic door locks and reconfigure main entry.

• Add parking and separate the staff parking and bus/student drop off area.

• Install insulated and hurricane proof windows.

• Upgrade electrical wiring.

West Side Middle School (Built in 1956 with addition in 1994)

• Remove asbestos floor tile and encapsulate asbestos in the floor of crawl space.

• Install additional security cameras and electronic door locks.

• Install energy efficient lighting with automatic controls.

• Upgrade electrical wiring.

• Convert the heating system from steam in the old section to hot water, and replace boilers.

•  Install ventilation in the 1956 section.

Fitch Middle School (Built in 1928; sections added in 1944, 1948 and 1955. Portable classrooms added in 1971; partial renovation in 1979. More portables added in 1990)

• Install fire sprinklers in two sections, rescue windows and replace fire alarm system.

• Remove asbestos insulating ceiling tile, floor tile, glue behind marker boards, and encapsulate asbestos in dirt crawl space.

• Bring school into compliance with handicapped accessibility codes.

• Install security cameras, electronic door locks and reconfigure main entry.

• Add parking and separate staff parking and bus and student drop off areas.

• Replace curtain wall in cafeteria; the wall previously had large windows, some of which fell out and had to be replaced with other material.

• Install a permanent radon gas evacuation system in part of the building.

• Remove old ceiling above the existing ceiling in the auditorium.