School Construction’s Back

After a two-year hiatus, Mayor John DeStefano is asking the city to borrow $42.3 million for three new projects next year: renovating New Haven Academy, adding Hyde magnet school onto Hillhouse High, and rebuilding the Helene Grant School as centralized pre‑K hub.

DeStefano made those proposals in the capital projects section of his budget proposal for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

Aldermen have the final say on the package, which they’re hashing out in a series of public hearings over the next two-and-a-half months.

The three projects represent an unfreezing of the mayor’s $1.5 billion school construction initiative, according to Will Clark, the Board of Education’s chief operating officer. The initiative, which began in 1998, used state money to rebuild or renovate nearly every public school in New Haven’s district.

Construction never stopped. It continues every week at East Rock Magnet School and Hill Central Music Academy. But in tough budget times, the city declined to add any new projects to the past two years, Clark said. The three projects were put on ice during those years. Now the city has come up with new versions of the proposals, in some cases scaled down from prior plans.

If local and state approvals fall into place, construction could begin on the three projects in June of 2013, he said.

The projects are outlined in the city’s revised master plan for school construction, which was released earlier this month. Click here to read it.

Helene Grant Pre‑K Hub

Total cost: $43.0M
City Share: $14.8M

DeStefano proposes tearing down the former Helene Grant School (pictured) at 185 Goffe St., which is currently used for the city’s largest pre‑K program, and rebuilding it as a new central station for pre‑K education.

The new building would house students from the district’s four main pre‑K programs that aren’t attached to schools: Helene Grant, which serves 266 kids; the Early Learning Center at 495 Blake St., which serves 118; Zigler Head Start at 81 Olive St., serving 124 kids; and Dwight Head Start at 1324 Chapel St., which serves 46.

Those three sites not currently at Helene Grant, which are in leased spaces, would cease to exist. The new building would house a consolidated pre‑K program, as well as the pre‑K registration office, which now sits at the Board of Education headquarters at 54 Meadow St.

The city would build a new, 63,000 square-foot building at Helene Grant, with a new 2,500 square-foot administration wing for registration.

The result would be ​“a more centralized early learning center with registration, their offices, and all of the classrooms in one location,” Clark said. The consolidation would save money on leases. Clark said New Haven was ahead of the curve in introducing a rigorous curriculum to pre‑K classrooms. Consolidation would allow New Haven to beef up its pre‑K curriculum, Clark said.

New Haven’s new pre‑K center would serve 525 students.

The city oversees 2,000 pre‑K seats at Head Start, magnet pre‑K and school readiness sites. Click here for an overview a group of parents put together. Clark said the district’s goal is to continue building capacity.

“We know there continues to be a shortage of pre‑K slots in New Haven,” he said.

New Haven is hoping to capitalize on some new state funding for the new project: The proposal coincides with a commitment from Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to boost early childhood learning across the state. Malloy’s sweeping education reform bill, currently being hotly debated for more controversial components, includes funding for 500 new pre‑K seats statewide.

In a visit to New Haven last week, Malloy said 40 of those 500 new seats may go to New Haven.

Clark said the Helene Grant pre‑K project has been in the city’s master plan for years. Originally the plan was to renovate the Helene Grant School, a 34,000-square-foot, one-story cement bunker erected in 1965. 

But as years have passed, ​“it’s become more obvious that that location is in need of serious repair,” Clark said.

One father picking up his son on Goffe Street Friday agreed.

“They need to tear it down.”

Hyde Seeks New Home

Total cost: $41.0M
City Share: $17.1M

Hyde, a small high school camped out in a swing space in Hamden, has long sought a permanent home. DeStefano originally came up with a plan for a $51 million building at the site of the former Martin Luther King school, according to Clark. The new plans call for a scaled-down version, in which Hyde would become attached to James Hillhouse High School at 480 Sherman Parkway.

Hyde, an interdistrict magnet school currently housed at 306 Circular Ave. in Hamden, recently won a magnet grant to put a new focus on health science and sports medicine. (The school’s new official title: Hyde School of Health Sciences and Sports Medicine.)

Hyde’s current site, a former Catholic junior high school, has only ​“a patch of grass” and lacks the infrastructure for science labs, Clark said. New Haven is reluctant to make improvements on the building because it is leased.

Clark said the city spotted a good spot for Hyde next to Hillhouse High, its state-of-the-art field house and proper athletic fields.

The city proposes building a 20,000 square foot addition to Hillhouse to create a new home for Hyde. The site of the addition hasn’t been set, but it could go in a grassy stretch on the side of Hillhouse (pictured) that’s closest to Goffe Street, Clark said. There is some shop space on that end of Hillhouse that ​“could be reclaimed and reutilized.”

The $41 million price tag could go lower, Clark said, ​“depending on the amount of reusable space that we can have within Hillhouse.” Hyde could possibly save money on shared spaces, such as the library or cafeteria.

Hyde would grow from 200 to 300 students, and would remain autonomous from Hillhouse, according to the plan. Clark called Hyde a promising school that sits in the middle of three tiers, based on student growth and performance.

Judging from a similar school in Hartford, sports medicine and health appear to be ​“an area that’s got some momentum and focus,” Clark said. ​“Kids seem to be excited about this area of learning,” and the school construction program could give the school the technology and facilities it needs to take off.

The $41 million proposal includes renovation of Bowen Field at Hillhouse as well as new turf at the Wilbur Cross High School athletic field.

New Haven Academy Redo

Total cost: $40.0M
City Share: $10.4M

New Haven Academy, an interdistrict magnet school serving about 250 kids, sits in the former St. Mary’s Catholic girls’ high school at 444 – 448 Orange St.

The city owns the 67,100 square-foot, 1948 building, which Clark said is not very efficient. The district has made repairs, but those have ​“diminishing returns.”

The school, solidly ranked in Tier II, plans to expand from 261 to 359 students, according to the district’s master plan.

Clark said the city scaled down its earlier vision, which was to put New Haven Academy and High School in the Community on the campus of Southern Connecticut State University. The rehab came in part because of ​“the reality of what is or isn’t available on the Southern campus.”

To make these projects happen, New Haven Public Schools first needs aldermanic approval to borrow the city’s share of money for each project. Then the proposals will pass to the state for approval, which usually takes until May or June of the following year, Clark said.

Board of Aldermen President Jorge Perez and Newhallville Alderwoman Alfreda Edwards, who chairs the Education Committee, both said they would withhold comment until they’ve seen more details of the plans.

The Education Committee next meets on March 29 in City Hall. Aldermen plan to ask questions of the Board of Education about the overall schools budget at that time, Edwards said.