Thomas Breen file photo
The former West Rock STREAM Academy.
The Board of Education has approved the school district’s plan to hand over to city government two vacant former school buildings in West Hills and Fair Haven Heights.
The school board took those votes Monday night during their latest meeting at John C. Daniels School in the Hill.
They voted to approve two resolutions that formally retire the district’s responsibility for, and give the city ownership of, the former West Rock STREAM Academy at 311 Valley St. and the former Quinnipiac Real World STEM School at 460 Lexington Ave., also known as 805 Quinnipiac Ave.
The city’s public school district closed both West Rock STREAM Academy and Quinnipiac School in 2021 due to HVAC issues. The buildings have been vacant ever since.
District spokesperson Justin Harmon told the Independent Tuesday that the district expects to save around $74,000 a year in utility costs and maintenance by dropping ownership of these two buildings.
“The greater benefit would be any revenue generated by the city’s disposition of the property, if it were to be used to support the district’s capital needs,” Harmon concluded.
The city’s Board of Alders will next be tasked with approving the transfer of the two buildings to the City of New Haven.
In an interview with the Independent last week, Mayor Justin Elicker said that the city plans to put out a request for proposals (RFP) to see who is interested in putting these properties back to productive use.
All of this comes as the school district is looking to close Brennan-Rogers School, merge Wexler-Grant School with Lincoln-Bassett, and make a host of other cuts to try to close a $14 million budget deficit.
Maya McFadden Photo