A Growing Need for Improved School Facilities in Southwest Connecticut

Craig Berendowski, a parent of three children in the Greenwich school district, stood up in front of dozens of his fellow parents and residents during last year’s budget hearing. For Berendowski, facility challenges at his son’s school, Old Greenwich, hit close to home that year.

“My 9-year-old broke his leg a few weeks ago and this became very real to him,” he said. “Three decades of neglect was a personal thing for him. He loves school so much, you can imagine his crushing defeat when he realized he might not be able to attend school because his classroom is on the third floor.”

While the principal there and teachers worked to move the class as much as possible, Berendowski said that he knew the accommodation was “disruptive.” 

“Let's not blink and stay ADA non-compliant for another 30 years,” he said. 

Issues with accessibility aren’t just happening at Old Greenwich. A review of school district facility plans from across southwest Connecticut showed that dozens of schools are in need of repairs. 

Structural problems, failing HVAC units, undersized classrooms, environmental concerns, and accessibility challenges were just a few issues outlined in reports from districts across the region, but in particular in Norwalk, Stamford, Bridgeport, and Greenwich. 

“The time is now to fix these issues,” said Greenwich parent Matthew Kane at last year’s budget hearing. 

So, How Did We Get Here?

School officials cite two main culprits causing these issues with school facilities: deferred maintenance and underinvestment. For years, funding for school infrastructure projects was put on hold to alleviate city budgets and pressure on local taxpayers, officials said. But that meant problems became exacerbated and cost more money to address. Many officials, particularly those in Stamford and Norwalk, highlighted that this was the time to reinvest in schools. 

"We have to ensure that we have facilities equipped to provide experiences that prepare scholars for the future and in order for us to do that we need more projects like the one seen here today," Norwalk Superintendent Alexandra Estrella said at a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Norwalk High School.

School buildings across the region face numerous challenges ranging from significant infrastructure issues to underinvestment in school facilities in general, meaning that classrooms and other areas, such as libraries and media centers, aren’t necessarily updated to meet the current needs of students.

For example, in Greenwich, Central Middle School was shut down for over two weeks in 2022 after a report found “significant structural concerns” with the building. 

“The Town’s inspectors have made the decision to close the building until it is deemed safe for occupancy by the engineering firm who specializes in this type of structural work,” a joint letter from Superintendent Toni Jones and Principal Thomas Healy read. “We understand it could be unsettling.”

A new $85 million building project to replace the school is now underway, with a goal of opening in summer 2026. 

Officials warn that continued delays could really impact students, teachers, and staff who work in these buildings. 

“This is the fifth time in as many years that I’ve stood before you requesting funding for all of our school’s much needed renovations and expansion project,” Jennifer Bencivengo, principal at Old Greenwich, said at last year’s budget hearing, citing in particular the school’s lack of ADA compliance. “It is unconscionable to think that a child with a physical limitation is not able to attend their neighborhood school.”

Changing Communities

The improvement plans in some districts call for adding schools in communities that are seeing growing numbers of school-aged students.

That’s the case in Norwalk and Stamford, where recommendations call for adding schools in South Norwalk and south of I-95 in Stamford. 

The Stamford facilities’ plan found that “historically, Stamford south of I-95 has struggled with not having enough school facilities and seats to house the number of students residing in the residential neighborhoods.”

That’s why one of the plan’s recommendations is to build a school in south Stamford in an effort to fix “this historic disconnect to the greatest extent possible by addressing the lack of school facilities in densely populated areas of south Stamford.”

There are similar recommendations in Norwalk. Construction has started in the neighborhood of South Norwalk, one of the most diverse in the city, to build a community school for the first time in more than 40 years. 

"The young students in South Norwalk have not had a neighborhood school in over 40 years, and not having a neighborhood school has been a tremendous hindrance to them," said Mayor Harry Rilling during a groundbreaking ceremony at school in April. "They have to wake up in the morning, get on a bus and drive all the way across town to go to school, and their neighbor may go to a different school than them. But that is all about to change. When this school is finally completed in August 2025, up to 680 students from the community, ages PreK to fifth grade, will be able to attend.”

Superintendent Alexandra Estrella emphasized the importance of having a community school, particularly in South Norwalk. 

"Many of our families don't have private transportation to be able to visit their school sites and engage in the community in ways that others have been able to do throughout Norwalk," she said. "What's happening around us right now is going to be transformational for the families and children of Norwalk, to have a place that they can come to engage, celebrate, during the school day, but also after school see this as a place of community convening and coming together, which is critical in any community." 

Aging Facilities

One of the biggest challenges across the region is the age of many of the school buildings. For example, the Greenwich school district facilities’ plan found that across its 15 buildings the “average age of the original construction is 64 years old with an original build date of 1953.” Schools are typically built to last about 40 to 50 years on average.

While the plan noted that “the buildings are well maintained,” their age continues to pose a challenge and in particular a need to improve “indoor air quality including cooling” and to fully provide “access for the disabled.” 

In Stamford, local city officials raised concerns about delaying the start of work on the new Roxbury K-8 school project given the existing building’s issues. 

Matthew Quinones, the director of operations for Stamford, said the 2021 long-term facilities plan cited “several areas of concern.”

“For the existing Roxbury building [those include], the fire protection—it has a sprinkler system installed in 1994;  integrity of the building envelope for moisture infiltration, ADA noncompliance, bathrooms, unsafe terrain, the current modular [classrooms] are 20 years old,” he said. “We’re looking at the condition of Roxbury as a concern and those are not repairs that the city or Board of Education has taken on because of the long-term facilities plan calling for this as the next project to come online.”

But that project might be delayed as local officials weigh the projected escalating costs of school construction projects.

Learn more about the cost of updating southwest Connecticut schools in Part 2.