Build A New Walsh School? Or Fix The Old One?

Sharply diverse opinions were voiced about how to fix Walsh Intermediate School at Monday’s meeting of the Facilities Committee of the Board of Education, but almost everyone agreed that fifth grade should not be part of the middle school format. 

• Superintendent Hamlet Hernandez favors renovating Walsh, rather than building a new structure. He suggested constructing a traditional fifth- grade wing and adding space for administrative offices. He said the district must take into account both the instructional needs and the ​“political appetite and financial resources of the town.”

Hernandez said Walsh has 992 students this year; he did not break the numbers down according to grade. According to results from state testing last year, 236 fifth-graders at Walsh participated in the Connecticut Mastery Tests.

• Frank Carrano, chair of the Board of Education (BOE), disagreed. ​“I beg to differ with you, but I think we have to generate that appetite based on what our students needs are,” he told the superintendent. He said the board may hire an architect to look at the feasibility of renovating Walsh or building a new structure.

• Walsh principal Robin Goeler said the district ​“would be crazy” to renovate rather than build a new school because of the impact that ongoing renovations would have on students.

• Meredith Gaffney, a parent on the committee, said people tell her the town can’t afford to build a new school. Like others at the meeting, she suggested separating fifth grade from other middle school classes.

• A 1998 Master Plan for Walsh, which is being discussed by the committee, called for constructing a fifth-grade wing and renovating the rest of the school, but the board at that time did not take action. The 88-page report estimated costs for an addition and renovation at $28 million, compared to a new facility cost of $49 million, according to 1998 figures. The facilities committee has been studying the report. 

Bruce E. Storm, the superintendent at that time, said there were some concerns about soundproofing at Walsh, but the main issue was the unsuitability of having fifth graders in a middle school setting.

In an interview with the Eagle, Storm said: ​“I don’t believe there was the necessary will to pursue the project called for in the report, in part because there were the residual impacts of a costly high school renovation still vivid in people’s minds, and in part because of what seemed to me to be a rejection of the report by some board members.”

THE BIG QUESTIONS

In late July, the Facilities Committee began looking at options for Walsh, which was built in 1972 as an open-space school with few interior walls. It is also discussing Sliney Elementary School, which was built as a high school in 1929. The committee was originally given two months to come up with recommendations, but Carrano later said it could take more time. Eight of the 14 members were present Monday at the fourth meeting. 

“My thinking has evolved since I first came on board,” said Hernandez, who is beginning his third year as superintendent. He said initially his priority was Sliney, but he has come to realize that Walsh is the most critical issue. ​“It was designed for a different era,” he told the committee. In recent years, the building has been upgraded with a new roof, new windows, energy-efficient options and a new heating and air conditioning unit. ​“We’ve done all these things to it, but we haven’t touched the classrooms,” he said. Makeshift partitions have been added to some areas over the decades, but soundproofing is still an issue. Click here to read about that.

Hernandez said he has taken a new look at Walsh after talking with town officials.

“I think it would be prudent to renovate Walsh like new,” Hernandez said, and then later look at options for Sliney.

At the Sept. 19 BOE meeting, Hernandez plans to commission a new enrollment projection study to help with the decision-making process.

“The biggest issues lie in the middle school,” agreed Philip Piazza, a parent on the committee who serves as principal at the North Haven Middle School. He said the open space environment at Walsh does not seem conducive to learning. He also asked how renovations would impact classes.

Hernandez said the former industrial arts space at Walsh could be used as a ​“swing space” to hold classes while another area is being renovated. Administrators had been looking at the now-vacant industrial arts space as a possible option for relocating Central Offices, which are currently housed across from the Town Green. Those plans are on hold. It was previously stated that trailers could also be used for temporary classrooms during renovation.

“Whatever we do would have to be done in phases,” Hernandez said in regard to renovating Walsh.

Then Goeler (at right in picture) was asked for his opinion as principal at Walsh. ​“With all due respect, I think we would be crazy if we renovate,” he said, adding that students’ ability to learn is affected during construction projects. He recalled problems that occurred during the lengthy high school renovations. 

“I think if we start with a clean piece of paper…the town would be much happier investing in that,” Goeler said. In addition, he said he is familiar with newly constructed middle schools, and he doubts that renovating Walsh would produce that type of result. 

Hernandez said he has given the issues a lot of thought and that it is necessary to consider both the educational needs and the financial constraints.

“We need to be grounded in what is doable and what there is a political appetite and financial resources for,” Hernandez said.

That is when Carrano (pictured) said he begged to differ, and that the board should ​“generate that appetite.”

Carrano said the decision for him boils down to: ​“What are our academic needs and what is the best building to meet those needs.”

He asked principals at Walsh and Sliney to meet with their teachers and come up with a list of problems and possible solutions for each building.

“It becomes our task to make that argument (to the town),” Carrano said, meaning the Board of Selectmen, the Board of Finance and the Representative Town Meeting. The BOE has not presented any proposal for a major renovation of Walsh or building a new school in its five year projected capital budget projects. All this is new. 

He said that decisions about fifth grade are vital. ​“Fifth grade in most districts is not part of the middle school,” Carrano said. ​“There would definitely have to be some accommodation for a separate fifth grade.”

Then Carrano voiced another possibility — bringing fifth grades back to the elementary schools by adding a ​“couple rooms” to the elementary school buildings. He also suggested that a new school to replace Sliney could be built at the site of the former Branford Hills School. If that were to happen, Sliney could be returned to the town.

Dr. Anthony Buono, principal at Mary Murphy Elementary School, said it seems that people are talking about issues in isolation. ​“There’s a lot of different possibilities and you have to look at them as a whole,” said Buono, who was hosting Monday’s committee meeting at Murphy School.

THE KOSINSKI REPORT

During a previous meeting, copies of the 1998 Master Plan compiled by Kosinski Enterprises were distributed to the committee and the media. 

Mark Deming, Branford’s director of facilities, said he used suggestions in the report to guide physical upgrades at Walsh over the years. But no one said why the major renovations suggested by the architects never occurred.

Storm said Deming used the report as a ​“blueprint” to guide the facilities department in making repairs and addressing code compliance issues in a manner that would avoid conflict with possible renovations, if a future board should choose that path.

When asked if there were concerns about soundproofing at Walsh in 1998, Storm said the acoustics were not the main issue. ​“There was never an outcry like there is today,” he said. ​“There was a strong voice that fifth graders should be in elementary school,” he said. ​“That was the issue.”

The Kosinski Report stated: ​“Concern has been expressed by school administration, teachers and parents that fifth grade classrooms be segregated from the rest of the school in order to provide a transition for the fifth graders into the intermediate school context.”

The report also targeted square-footage deficiencies in all classrooms throughout the school, with the greatest disparity in the fifth grade area where teaching stations averaged 55 percent of those recommended by the State Department of Education. ​“Such spatial inadequacy affects safety and code considerations, and hampers the full delivery of current teaching methodologies,” the report said.

A previous master plan suggested placing the fifth grade in the industrial arts area, but the Kosinski report said that area would not provide the sufficient square footage that is required by the state whenever major renovations occur.

Carrano said the next committee meeting will be scheduled in two or three weeks, to allow time for administrators at Walsh and Sliney to bring suggestions from teachers.

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