Updated, 2:08 a.m. Tuesday: Full story. 4 p.m.: quote from Sarah LeMieux.
NORWALK, Conn. – Norwalk plans to build a new Norwalk High School, in what Superintendent of Schools Steven Adamowski predicts will be a “game changer for Norwalk education.”
This would involve a P-Tech (Pathways in Technology) Middle College with 100 students from around the county, a pilot program that makes Norwalk eligible for 80 percent state funding rather than the usual 32.5 percent, State Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D-25) said in a Monday morning press conference. Norwalk would spend about $40 million for a new school rather than $11 million to renovating its current 48-year-old building, taking advantage of low bonding rates and spreading the interest out over 30 years instead of 15, Mayor Harry Rilling said, predicting, “It’s not going to have that much of a significant impact on the operating budget.”
Videos by Harold Cobin at end of story
There would also be Visual and Performing Arts Academy for 500 students. This would bring total enrollment up to 2,000 from the 1,600 it is now, in a 337,000 square foot building.
It’s hoped that the school would be open in 2023. It would be built on the current Norwalk High campus in stages.
The current school construction and renovations plans are not affected by this proposal, according to Rilling.
Duff on Facebook said Norwalk children still need to attend the school “for at least four more years. I disagree that it is wasted $$.”
‘Innovative’ concept began developing in May
Duff cited a long-term relationship with Konstantinos (Kosta) Diamantis, Director of the Connecticut Office of School Construction Grants & Review, in explaining this switch from renovating Norwalk High to constructing a new building. He was talking to Diamantis in May about the focus on repairing the aged Norwalk High School, and supporting Norwalk schools in general, he said.
“Unfortunately, with the age of the building, resources provided and unanticipated costs, a lot of the larger projects would be either done inadequately or not at all. Especially the ones that were most important to the students and their success,” Duff said.
Diamantis heard the frustration and a movement to seek a more global solution was born, Duff reported. “It was time to think big for Norwalk High School.”
Rilling, Duff, Norwalk Public Schools administrators and others met with state officials in May to explore options and again in August and September, and on Nov. 6, the day after the election, according to Duff. A plan was formulated and a week ago approval for a new school was received from various state agencies.
It was initially thought that there would be an addition or the school renovated as new. “Those ideas would have made some areas bright and shiny but would still leave have left us with a 48-year-old building compounding the same old problems, such as attending a school modeled after a prison,” Duff said.
“When we first sat at the table, I think there was some doubt that we were going to able to be able to pull this off,” Rilling said.
“This is an out of the box thinking method that would allow us to create a beautiful school within this particular community and enhance programs that exist here that have clearly demonstrated to the public that it works,” Diamantis said.
Enrollment always drives the program and the size of the building and while enrollment in Norwalk arts programs is dropping, “one of the things that makes (this) innovative” is bringing other children in from other districts, he said.
No more magnet schools
The state cannot keep rebuilding programs in every community “when in fact sometimes it’s difficult to duplicate a program that’s already successful, like the P-Tech program,” Diamantis said. A black box theater for a performing arts center is very expensive and it cannot be done in all of Connecticut’s 1,187 schools.
The state isn’t doing magnet programs anymore because it has “become very, very expensive to do those kinds of things, he continued.
“So what’s next on the agenda? The governor wanted us to consider consolidating and maximizing the various programs that we put that we put into schools, one being, of course, the P-Tech program that has been a revelation, has been outstanding,” Diamantis said.
ETA 2023?
As mentioned, the school will be built in segments.
“There’ll be a phase in process so that we have minimal disturbance to the school. And then we’ll demolish as we move along and continue to erect and eventually have an entirely new school,” Diamantis said.
He’s hoping this will be complete in 2023 but, “We’re vetting the process. So it’s still new. I mean, we’re in we’re in schematic design is what will begin and we’ll be able to identify what that phase will look like.”
It has to be fleshed out with education specifications, first to the Board of Education Facilities Committee and then to the full Board, Duff said. Then it would go to the Common Council, which must also approve the Ed Specs and commit to the funding.
BoE Facilities Chairwoman Erica DePalma was briefed on the proposal and a special meeting is planned for Thursday week so that all the elements of the proposed plan can be reviewed and vetted in committee before moving to the full board, BoE Chairwoman Sarah LeMieux wrote in an email.
“Figure a year of design and architecture, and then three years of construction,” Duff said.
Building in phases eliminates the need for portables, which have become very expensive, Diamantis said. “The last price we had: 40 portables, which would house roughly four classrooms or so in each of the portables, was around $4 million.”
Community involvement expected
“The arts are a strength of Norwalk High School. So we would be building upon that strength and all of the community involvement already inherent in it,” Adamowski said.
He’s going to appoint a study committee to create the design specifications, “what is needed, both programmatically and from a building standpoint to support it for the Visual and Performing Arts Academy,” he said.
“You may know that there are several quite famous schools like this in the in the nation,” Adamowski said. “So we have a number of examples to look at and being the latest, we want ours to be the best and, and to ratchet up to the to the highest level. There will be opportunities for community involvement and participation all along the way in this process.”
Saving Norwalkers $100 million
“This announcement today was an important one, since the school construction priority list for the state will be released shortly, and the new Norwalk High School will be on the list,” Duff said.
Duff and Rilling said the 80 percent reimbursement rate will save Norwalk taxpayers $100 million.
That rate “will allow us to continue with all the other school construction projects we have been planning,” Rilling explained in a text message. “Rather than a band-aid approach to NHS by putting $11m into repairs, we will be getting a new school for approximately $40m. This is a tremendous opportunity of which must take advantage.”
It’s estimated the new school will cost about $200 million but, “We do not have exact costs yet,” Rilling said.
“Because we’re able to get this 80 percent reimbursement, we’re still able to move forward with the other kinds of projects that we have on the boards,” Rilling said during the press conference. “I don’t want people to think that we’re not going to be doing that and other things will be delayed or taken off the table altogether. We have a lot of things that we’re planning, we’re going to be able to do all of them.”
Optimistic thoughts
“Norwalk has been blessed with quality public schools for many years, and that’s one of the reasons why it is such a thriving city,” Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney (D-11) said. “But … the physical plant of this building is as it exists is increasingly inadequate. Renovation costs would be prohibitively expensive over time and only do a partial job. Starting with a new school and creating all of the state-of-the-art amenities that will be included in it will mean that this will be in effect, a just a beacon of what a quality 21st century high school can be in the state of Connecticut.”
“I think this is a kind of thing that this basically attracts a diverse student body and just makes this just going to make Norwalk a very dynamic place for education,” State Rep. Chris Perone (D-137) said. “…After about 15 years or so you reach a point of functional obsolescence with the schools. And then after that, it just becomes more and more expensive to take care of.”
“I’m excited that we’re going to have this brand-new school for all of our students,” State Rep. Travis Simms (D-140) said. “ I think this is going to make Norwalk, transcend Norwalk, make Norwalk attractive, and actually bring in more resources and businesses and corporations that make sure that when our kids are finished school here that we will have plenty of jobs for you.”
“The new Norwalk High project seems like an exciting opportunity,” LeMieux wrote Tuesday. “… According to everyone I’ve spoken to – and this would have been a concern of mine as well – this project won’t impact construction or renovation of elementary schools, either in process or in the pipeline. I’m looking forward to learning more about it.”
“This could not be afforded given our other needs, without the very significant participation of the state at the 80 percent level,” Adamowski said. “And so we have a lot to celebrate today, a lot of people to thank, I think this goes to show that government can work and that public purposes can be achieved. I’m just very grateful on behalf of all the generations of students that will benefit from one of the finest high schools in the in the nation for all the efforts that have brought this to fruition.”
Original story, posted at 3:41 p.m. Monday
NORWALK, Conn. – Norwalk plans to build a new Norwalk High School, rather than continue with renovating its current 48-year-old building.
“Thanks to the innovative thinking of the group, staunch support from Mayor Rilling and his team, expertise from Dr. Adamowski and Dr. Costanzo and their teams, and generous financial commitment from the state of Connecticut and the City of Norwalk we are very pleased to make a big announcement,” State Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D-25) said in a Monday morning press conference.
It’s hoped that the school would be open in 2023.
Video by Harold Cobin at end of story
Duff cited a longterm relationship with Konstantinos (Kosta) Diamantis, Director of the Connecticut Office of School Construction Grants & Review, in explaining this switch from renovating to constructing. He was talking to Diamantis in May about the focus on repairing the aged Norwalk High School, and supporting Norwalk schools in general, he said.
“Unfortunately, with the age of the building, resources provided and unanticipated costs, a lot of the larger projects would be either done inadequately or not at all. Especially the ones that were most important to the students and their success,” Duff said.
Diamantis heard the frustration and a movement to seek a more global solution was born, Duff reported. “It was time to think big for Norwalk High School.”
Mayor Harry Rilling, Duff, Norwalk Public Schools administrators and others met with state officials in May to explore options and again in August and September, then on Nov. 6, the day after the election, according to Duff. A plan was formulated and a week ago approval for a new school was received from various state agencies.
It was initially thought that an addition or renovate as new. “Those ideas would have made some areas -bright and shiny but would still leave have left us with a 48 year-old building compounding the same old problems, such as attending a school modeled after a prison,” Duff said.
The new school will be 80 percent funded by the state and will house 2,000 students, according to Duff. It will feature and expanded P-Tech academy (Norwalk Early College Academy, or NECA) and a Norwalk Visual And Performing Arts Academy. It would be built in stages.
This news comes after Norwalk has invested capital dollars into replacing woodwork in the high school’s hallways and spiffed up its exterior with a paint job.
Duff on Facebook said Norwalk children still need to attend the school “for at least four more years. I disagree that it is wasted $$.”
This story will be updated.
Leave a Reply
You must Register or Login to post a comment.