Date: Fri 29-Nov-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: DOTTIE

Quick Words:

Schools-magnet-FHH

Full Text:

Fairfield Hills Loses Its Magnetic Attraction

B Y D OROTHY E VANS

Magnet school planners have veered away from considering the vacant

state-owned Fairfield Hills property located off Newtown's Mile Hill Road as a

possible site for a proposed career development school.

That decision was one of the few firm agenda items to be resolved at the most

recent magnet planning meeting, held November 18 and attended by members of

the Greater Danbury Magnet Feasibility Planning Group.

Other questions, such as school size and enrollment schedules, possible

corporate partners and the exact nature of a cooperative relationship with

Western Connecticut State University, remain to be settled.

"It's a big mosaic and we're still filling in the pieces," said Claire Gold,

consultant to the planning group, speaking Monday afternoon.

"Things are often discussed but not decided," said Newtown Board of Education

vice chairman Amy Dent.

Mrs Dent was not able to attend the November 18 meeting but has been a member

of the magnet planning committee from the beginning, along with Newtown Board

of Education Chairman Herb Rosenthal and Superintendent of Schools John Reed.

"It's unlikely the magnet school will be located at Newtown's Fairfield

Hills," Dr Gold said, adding there seemed to be strong sentiment for a Danbury

site instead.

The four Danbury sites being considered are, Union Carbide's property off Old

Ridgebury Road, buildings that were once occupied by a former pharmaceutical

firm, a site near Lake Kenosia and another site on Wooster Heights.

"They wanted a site that was very accessible, located either in the center of

Danbury or just over the border," Dr Gold said.

Newtown's Fairfield Hills just didn't fit either description.

Who Will Attend?

Slowly, as the magnet planners from Newtown, New Fairfield, Danbury, Region 9

and Region 12 wrestle with the difficult business of describing something that

doesn't exist yet, some details of what the proposed magnet school might look

like are emerging.

Newtown, with a high school population of 1,074 students and an all-district

school population of 4,075 students, might be allotted as much as a 25 percent

share of the total magnet school population, when the school becomes fully

enrolled.

Danbury, with a district wide school population of more than 8,000 students,

would be given 50 percent.

The projected population for the magnet school when it is fully enrolled might

be anywhere from 240 to 300 students, according to Dr Gold.

"How many students might come from regions 9 and 12 and from New Fairfield, as

well as Newtown's relatively high level of interest as indicated by Dr Reed,"

led to that rough estimate, Dr Gold said.

"Remember, though, that this would be a school of choice. Parents will make

the decision about whether or not their children will attend," Dr Gold said.

Another factor that would affect school population numbers might be that towns

who are not now participating in the planning stage, like Bethel, Brookfield

and New Milford, might "become interested again," Dr Gold said.

"Fundamentally, we want to keep it a very small school, where the staff gets

to know the students well," she added.

Magnet Sports?

Dr Gold said that the question of whether or not the proposed magnet school

would field sports teams, as well as offer other extra-curricular activities

to its student population, was not settled at the November 18 meeting.

But she did offer her opinion.

"My hunch is that it [magnet school] could be its own entity. Looking at

private schools, they have very good athletic programs, so I know it can be

done. You might not be able to field a football team," she added.

Cooperating with WestConn

Planners at the November 18 meeting seemed satisfied with the proposal now on

the table to work with Western Connecticut State University on developing the

magnet school project.

"We have not signed a formal agreement, but we definitely have the blessings

of the WestConn president, dean and vice president. They want to collaborate.

There are a lot of wonderful opportunities in this for them, as well," Dr Gold

said.

She explained that students at the magnet school might get as much as one year

of college credit at WestConn.

As for a possible corporate partner or sponsor, Dr Gold did not want to

divulge the identities of the candidates because "we don't have any agreement

yet."

"The site might dictate who the best partner would be," she said.

Proposal Deadline

One key issue for success of the planning committee's magnet proposal, once

they finalize it, will be the necessary release of money by the state to fund

it.

To gain funding, an application must be filed by spring, Dr Gold said, that

describes the proposed job training school's academic program and its facility

needs, and then that proposal must pass by the state bonding commission - a

process that Dr Gold admitted "has been very slow."

"I'm assuming that the state is going to have to move, though, and do

something significant to respond to the Sheff vs O'Neil [desegregation]

decision," Dr Gold said.

"It's difficult," Mrs Dent said, referring to the problem of meeting the

spring funding deadline.

"We're building something that hasn't been done before," she said.

If the funding and other details are resolved in due course, planners hope the

career development magnet school will be ready to welcome area students by

September 1998.

The first class will probably be made up of freshmen only, with a class added

each year until the four high school grade levels are represented.

"These things take time," Dr Gold said.