Date: Fri 02-Jul-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: JEFF

Quick Words:

schools-Fairfield-Hills-5/6

Full Text:

Board Sees A Second 5/6 School Plan For Fairfield Hills

BY JEFF WHITE

Becker and Becker Associates of New Caanan (B&B), one of four companies vying

for the purchase and development of 186 acres of Fairfield Hills' main campus,

met with several members of Newtown's Board of Education and other school

officials on Tuesday, June 29, to lay out its proposal for a new school for

grades five and six.

The sight of the potential school would be Cochran House, the big, rambling

brick building that sits on 19 acres of land off Mile Hill South.

"This building adapts itself [to a school] much better than any other building

I've seen," said Jim Lawler, an architect who has been serving as a consultant

for Newtown school officials. "There is nothing that is a significant

problem," Mr Lawler added, referring to the current condition of the 43-year-

old building.

The meeting was solely for informational purposes, emphasized Superintendent

John Reed. Once it became clear that B&B's 5/6 school proposal was going to be

made public, Dr Reed said, it became necessary for the school board to become

as informed as possible, because they would ultimately have to judge the

feasibility of the project.

Along with Dr Reed, those present in the faculty dinning room of the middle

school Tuesday morning were Dominick Posca, the director of maintenance for

Newtown schools, Ronald Bienkowski, the district's director of business, Board

of Education chairman Amy Dent, and Board of Education secretary Elaine

McClure.

The Proposed School

B&B architect David Levine presented a rough preliminary design plan for the

proposed school. According to B&B's proposal, two additions would be made to

Cochran House during the major renovation. The first addition would jut out

from the west face of the building and house a media center on the first

floor, along with a music and art area on the ground floor.

The second addition would be on the south side of the building, with a

gymnasium on the first floor, and a cafeteria on the ground floor. Students

would have the ability to enter both the cafeteria and the gymnasium from the

ground level.

The first floor would also house various administrative and guidance offices

and a nurses clinic; two primary academic wings would form the border on

either side of the media center.

The second floor would be reserved as the science floor, with classrooms and

laboratories along the corridors.

Mr Levine also highlighted some of the external changes planned in B&B's early

model. They have designed a large bus loop that will front the school, with

the capability of accommodating up to 25 buses. They outlined a separate

parent drop-off loop on the west side of the building.

B&B has proposed to build four additional multi-purpose athletic fields to the

north of the existing baseball fields. The hope in this proposal would be that

the town would utilize these new fields while handing over the existing

baseball fields to the 5/6 schools. The town currently uses the baseball

fields to the south of Cochran House for little league.

In all, the proposed 5/6 school complex, taking into account athletic fields,

will sprawl out over 26 acres and be able to accommodate approximately 1,500

students.

"The objective is to build a first rate school and educational environment,"

said B&B representative Jerry Milroy.

"We are tailoring our proposals to meet the town's objectives," added Bruce

Becker, B&B's president. B&B representatives present at the meeting felt

confident that their proposal would meet the initial stipulations made by some

members of the Board of Education who had served on a 5/6 study committee.

The need for a 5/6 school first became an issue when the committee concluded

last year that projected increases in class sizes would overtax the school

system's current facilities.

"Last year, enrollment was up six percent," said Dr Reed. "After three years,

you've added 20 percent of the student population." Dr Reed referred to the

need for a 5/6 school as a "well-established fact."

Despite B&B's confidence in the feasibility of its proposed school, the

meeting adjourned with numerous issues still to be addressed in the near

future.

Problems To Be Addressed

Among the problems that B&B will have to address as they refine their plans is

what to do with the third and fourth floors of Cochran House, currently not

anticipated to be used for the school.

The proposed 5/6 school would only use the ground, first and second floors of

the building, leaving two full floors without specific functions. Some

suggestions placed a few administrative and town offices on the empty floors.

School officials ultimately dismissed this idea based on the inherent dangers

it presented to school safety.

Another option recommended was to raze one floor entirely, replace the roof,

and use the remaining open floor for storage. B&B stated that it would work

several scenarios in the hopes of finding the most efficient use for the open

floors.

Moreover, B&B also promised to address the eight undersized classrooms that

are part of its proposal. The concept of a 5/6 school was conceived with two

teacher teams in mind. These teams would teach language arts, social studies,

and math, and would require close collaboration, according to Dr Reed.

Although each teacher would have his or her own classroom, there was an

initial plan to have some classrooms open up to each other. Therefore,

according to original board stipulations, classrooms needed to be a certain

size.

Access to the school was another concern some school officials had about the

proposal. The fear was that the narrowness of the roads surrounding Cochran

House would thwart the flow of school traffic. B&B answered this concern by

stating that it planned on widening Mile Hill Road to two lanes during their

development.

Time Pressures

According to Dr Reed, of the four contractors bidding on Fairfield Hills, B&B

is the only company that has a 5/6 school concretely in their development

plans.

In many regards, B&B's proposal has caused some school officials to do an

about-face. For almost a year, the Board of Education showed interest in a

22-acre parcel of land adjacent to Watertown Hall as a site for a 5/6 school.

At the time, Dr Reed doubted the feasibility of any building on Fairfield

Hills becoming a school site, fearing that the state would not support the

development of a four-story school.

But B&B's proposal has presented another option for an issue that has definite

time pressures. The anticipated and hoped-for opening of the school would be

in the fall of 2001, when student numbers would finally exceed existing space.

Because of the urgency in the eyes of school officials, consideration of all

options and an open dialogue with B&B was supported by Dr Reed.

"It was a meeting to continue a dialogue with school staff and Becker and

Becker. Because of the interest that the staff had, they were asked to

attend," Dr Reed said about B&B's proposal.

"It was very important for us to understand what [school officials'] thinking

was, because ultimately the board will have to critique this proposal," he

added.

A cost-benefit analysis will have to be made, said Dr Reed, about whether or

not it is more cost effective to renovate a building versus constructing a

brand new school.

"We're not here to endorse any particular group," said Board of Education

chairperson Amy Dent at the end of the meeting. "We're here to address whether

this issue makes programmatic sense. We're simply here to be informed."