McKinley Elementary School students to go to Ludlowe site

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June 27, 2001

McKinley students to go to Ludlowe site

By Ciarmiello, Staff reporter

Eight months after McKinley Elementary School was closed due to toxic mold,

it is still unclear if students and staff will have a home by the start of

next year.

The Board of Education on Monday approved educational specifications

enabling Ludlowe Middle School's Webster Wing to be converted into a

space for the McKinley community for next year, but not until several board

members had questioned whether or not the space could be available by

August.

" I think it is much more likely that the space will not be delivered, "

school board Chairman Madeo said, after Town Facilities Commission

Chairman Bradley stated that there was a " reasonably good chance " that

the area would be ready by August.

But despite doubts about the plan, the board approved it. " There is no other

option before us that could possibly work, " board member Bruce Monte

explained.

Bradley said it should be clear by mid-July whether or not the plan will

meet the late-August deadline. There was no discussion of what will happen

to the McKinley students if it is not ready by the start of the school year.

Since October, McKinley students have been dispersed to six other elementary

schools, many having class in lunch rooms, libraries, or music rooms.

Well over 100 people - mostly McKinley parents - filled the Ludlowe

Education Center for Monday's meeting, with the majority urging the board to

move forward with the plan.

" Being back at the host schools (next year) is absolutely not an option that

we will stand for, " said PTA President Charlotte . She said that

McKinley families are prepared to boycott school if a suitable home is not

found for them by the start of next school year. " Right now, Webster Wing is

it, and we need to move forward with it, " she said, drawing a standing

ovation from many parents.

Parent Fidanzato said that McKinley parents have been asking for a

contingency plan for the last eight months. " You did nothing, " he said.

The Elementary School Building Committee, which carries out orders from the

Board of Selectmen, until recently had been working on a plan to remediate

and renovate part of McKinley over the summer.

But, at First Selectman Metsopoulos' urging, the committee requested to

be recharged to demolish and rebuild the building, after Metsopoulos

announced that the building had more mold growth than anticipated.

Thirteen portable classrooms that had been purchased for the McKinley site

will now be used at other schools, including Ludlowe.

On Monday, Fritz from Perkins Eastman Architects showed preliminary

plans for the Webster Wing renovations, saying that " there is a great

probability that we will meet this very aggressive schedule, " and be ready

in late August.

McKinley students would be housed mostly on the second floor, where the

Board of Education offices are currently located. First-graders would be

housed on the first floor.

The McKinley students would share physical education facilities with the

middle school, but would have their own cafeteria, music space, nurse's

area, conference areas, special education areas, and two other larger rooms

for miscellaneous purposes.

The third floor of Webster Wing would house a library for the McKinley

students, as well as the Board of Education offices.

Who calls the shots?

One of the main questions about the McKinley situation has been whether the

town or the school board controls the building's fate.

Metsopoulos and Town Attorney Baldwin have said that the town does,

but on Monday, school board attorney Floyd Dougas said he believed that the

board should have had control all along.

Baldwin said that he and agreed to disagree on some specifics of the

control question, but that, fortunately, the issue will not be a problem

because the school board's vote concurred with the first selectman's

proposal.

Board member Bruce Monte said he was more concerned that eight months had

passed with no sure-fire plan in place. He was particularly concerned

because the information driving the decision-making process - a comparative

cost and timeline analysis between renovation of the building and demolition

of the building - could have been obtained months earlier, he said. The

information was based on construction costs and timelines, not any of the

various McKinley studies performed since October, he said.

Metsopoulos gets praise, heat

Metsopoulos has taken the lead in the decision to demolish McKinley, and his

role drew praise from many in the school's community.

Foothorap, McKinley's secretary and a Republican Representative Town

Meeting member, said he has been a " father figure " to the McKinley

community, saying Metsopoulos " has had the courage and the vision to come up

with a contingency plan. "

" Mr. Metsopoulos took it upon himself, " Fidanzato said. " He took

accountability and responsibility. "

" He's the only one who handed us any option, " added.

But some board members were upset that at how the process played out.

Kathy O'Brien said that the McKinley decisions had been made without the

board. " I think it's ludicrous that we're having a discussion since ... the

decision has been made, " she said. O'Brien abstained from voting, saying

that she could not vote on a plan that she did not know was workable and

safe for children.

Deborah Dowd echoed her statements, but voted in favor. " This is a fait

accompli, and we need to just get on with it, " she said.

Albin said she was frustrated with the process, and that she

wished the board had been given more information when it agreed to the

original plan to renovate McKinley and utilize the 13 portables, saying that

the board had " not had a full enough picture to deal with this issue ... I

found that to be a very difficult environment to make good decisions. "

" This isn't my plan. This is the first selectman's plan, " added Vice

Chairman Mulligan. Mulligan said she wished the plan well, but voted

against it.

But board member Clifton Freedman said the origin of the plan was not

important. " The fact is we work together, " he said. " I guess in the end it

doesn't matter whose plan it is. However we got here in the eight months it

took us to get there ... we all own it. "

Metsopoulos said on Tuesday that the plan is workable, and that he invited

all board members to meetings at which the plan was discussed. " It does us

no good to point fingers or to engage in rhetoric, " he said, adding that he

is looking forward to working with the board to make the plan work.

©Fairfield Minuteman 2001