Date: Fri 22-Aug-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

edink-high-school-delay

Full Text:

Will We Be Late For School?

The $26-million renovation and expansion project began just about a year ago

at Newtown High School. Contractors knew they were working on an "aggressive"

schedule, but they were confidant that enough of the work would be done to

start the 1997-98 school year without too much disruption. Now, as the

September 3 opening day of school in Newtown approaches, it appears that the

original work schedule projections may have been slightly off target. It now

seems possible that high school students will have a few days added to their

summer vacation, perhaps at the expense of some other vacation later in the

school year.

Newtown's building inspector and fire marshal said this week that the building

may not be ready in time for school to commence as planned on September 3,

despite an all-out effort by the building contractors to finish the work in

the upper level of the existing building, which will allow classes to start.

(The entire project should be completed by the end of the year. See story.)

Even Superintendent John Reed, who until this week remained sanguine about

beginning classes in the high school on time, acknowledged the possibility of

a slight delay.

A delay in the start of classes at the high school should not be viewed as a

major setback for the town. It is far more important that the high school be

safe and secure for students and faculty on the first day of school than it is

to meet the September 3 deadline. It is also the law. To their credit,

Newtown's building and fire inspectors have been very scrupulous in demanding

that no corners be cut and that every code requirement be met. It is a process

that has demanded extra hours and attention from the town's building

department at a time when other projects, including Hawley School, Booth

Library, and countless private building projects throughout Newtown, are

already crowding the inspection schedules.

So, if the high school opening is delayed a few days or a week, so be it. A

tremendous amount of work has been accomplished in a year's time, and by the

end of the year, Newtown High School's transformation will be complete. When

compared to the Booth Library delays, the far larger and more complex high

school project looks as though it is going like clockwork.