Board of Education Chair Alison Plante reported at the BOE’s October 6 meeting that the Legislative Council (LC) had voted on September 16 in favor of establishing a Building Committee to explore the possibility of building a new grades six through eight middle school.

She added that the LC officially appointed members to the Building Committee, with its first meeting scheduled for October 13 in the Newtown Middle School (NMS) library.

First Selectman Bruce Walczak, who is on the Building Committee, said there were 15 people on the committee, with 15 categories of members. Walczak said some of these positions were required.

The first of those is a person with construction experience, which is filled by Art Norton from the Public Building & Site Commission (PBSC). Walczak said Plante, along with PBSC members Allen Adriani and Harold "Gus" Brennan, were required participants as per State regulations.

Walczak said the remaining positions are optional and selected at the discretion of the chair and LC.

The others on the committee include Superintendent of Schools Anne Uberti, BOE member John Vouros, Board of Finance member Jim Gaston, LC members Chris Gardner and Ben Ruben, community member seniors Phil Cruz and Holt McChord, community member parent Heymi Colon, NMS teacher Will Ryan, and NMS Principal Jim Ross.

This comes after the BOE voted at its March 3 meeting earlier this year to establish a Facilities Planning Committee, an ad hoc committee under the BOE that provides a clear framework for evaluating the district's long-term facility needs in alignment with its strategic plan.

A part of the ad hoc committee’s goal was to look at a master plan that would take into account foundational work already completed for the district, such as the facilities condition assessment, a ten-year enrollment projection, and a district-wide capacity study.

A variety of plans beyond a new grades six through eight middle school, such as redistricting, were discussed and considered.

Uberti presented the group’s findings to the BOE at its August 11 meeting, when the BOE voted that the Town proceed with the grades six through eight middle school project and establish the appropriate building committee to plan and oversee the project in accordance with Connecticut law.

At that meeting, Plante and Uberti clarified that the recommendation does not necessarily mean a new school will be built.

Walczak told The Newtown Bee on October 9 that the BOE and LC decided to explore the idea of building a new school. However, they have to research the cost and configuration of the new school, along with other factors, in order to present that to the voters at referendum, possibly next April.

“It’s a subtle difference, but they’re not going to decide to build a new school as much as they’re saying, this would be the cost and configuration of a new school so the voters can weigh in on that,” Walczak explained.

They talked about a possible referendum date in April, but that will be determined by the committee and if it can accomplish its work by then, according to Walczak.

He also praised the efforts of the Facilities Planning Committee.

The Facilities Planning Committee "worked really hard exploring various options and needs, and I do believe that the decision to move forward with fleshing out the details of building a new school [was] appropriate and justified, so I support it,” Walczak said.

Education Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.