Superintendent: Schools Will Suffer If $1.4 Million Is Denied

Superintendent Paul Kadri said Tuesday the school board could be forced to cut programs, raise class sizes or close Cutler Middle School if its request for $1.4 million is denied by the town.

Kadri made the statement at a joint committee meeting of the town council and school board, when asked what would happen if the council or Representative Town Meeting refused the request.

“This is a bread and butter type of thing,” he said. “There has to be an investment in these buildings. We really don’t have a choice. To say ‘no’ is to say that we want to have sub par programs and sub par schools.”

Hard choices

Kadri said the school department would not have enough space for classrooms and programs, and would face choices such as cutting programs, raising class size, or making an emergency switch to close Cutler Middle School and keep Fitch Middle School open.

Fitch is a larger building than Cutler so it could accommodate students without portable classrooms. However, that school would also require work, Kadri said. Closing West Side Middle School is not an option because of transportation problems, he said.

The council’s committee of the whole voted 7-1 Tuesday to go forward with the $1.4 million, meaning it will vote on the issue at its March 6 meeting.  The vote is contingent upon the school board formally requesting the money at its March 5 meeting.

Frustration

Councilor Mick O’Beirne voted against moving ahead.

He said the approach seems piecemeal and it angered him that he felt forced into it. Construction has already begun in the middle schools, he said.

“You basically have a situation where you started it without the money,” he said.

The school department is asking for the $1.4 million to buy six portable classrooms and make changes at West Side and Cutler to consolidate from three middle schools to two.

Wes Greenleaf, director of buildings and grounds for the schools, said the portables themselves would cost just over $1 million. The school department expects to receive about half that amount back from the state.

Finding the money

Groton has $750,000 in a capital reserve and $350,000 in a contingency fund it could tap. Town Manger Mark Oefinger said he would not recommend draining those accounts completely.

He said the town could also delay or take money from other capital projects that were approved earlier but not started.

Groton also has access to $980,000 of Department of Defense money given to help offset the cost of educating military students. The school department would have to sign off on using the money.

Oefinger said he would not recommend withdrawing money from the town’s general fund balance, as bond rating houses look unfavorably on this.

Buildings Neglected

School Board Member Chaz Zezulka said school buildings have been neglected for years, and that’s part of the problem. Projects requested when he served on the council in the late 1980s still wait, he said.

“This is not our plan. This is a Band Aid,” he said, adding, “. . .We’re pennywise and pound foolish in Groton.”

Councilor Deborah Peruzzotti, said she’s worried the $1.4 million request won’t pass. She said the town needs better communication and a united front.

“There’s a lot of hate and discontent out there and we have to do something to calm what is going on now,” she said. “. . .People are in an uproar.”