What’s the Impact of the Increased Cost of School Facilities Across Southwest Connecticut?

When the first project in line balloons in cost, such as it did in Westhill’s case, local officials said they’re concerned about the impact this will have on future projects that are part of the long-range facilities plans. 

For example, at its September meeting, the Stamford Board of Finance voted 4-2 against advancing two contracts for preconstruction and schematic design work to build a new K-8 Roxbury School. Members said they wanted to see the issues with Westhill resolved first, before taking the steps on the next school on the list. 

“There are so many open issues that need to be moved forward on Westhill, I wonder if it’s financial malpractice for us to proceed with another major project at this particular moment,” said board member Dennis Mahoney. “We are doing something like a $400 to $500 million project at Westhill–it is the largest project the city has undertaken. I have so many issues I feel have not been satisfactorily addressed.”

Board member Laura Burwick, who also voted against the contracts, said she didn’t think the city had the bandwidth to address both at this time.

“I am very much in favor of seeing Roxbury built, seeing Westhill built, but I still am very concerned given the magnitude and level of detail that are in all of these projects, I still feel that having the team move on the next when we haven't solved the problems with the first is not the best way to go.”

Quinones, the director of operations for Stamford, had argued that approving these contracts would have given the Board of Finance a better look at overall costs for upcoming school construction.

“We thought that this is a reasonable appropriation at this time to give the board more information, progress the project, eliminate concerns of any state interference to pull this and give the perspective for this board to really have a view on the long term facilities plan impact in January/February,” he said, adding that that time frame is when they expect to have the next round of cost estimates on Westhill.

Delaying Projects

Besides looking to reduce the size of Westhill, other districts also are looking to trim back or order their projects to save money and to not overburden their taxpayers all at once. In Greenwich, for example, while many know how badly a new Central Middle School is needed, cost and size of the project have come up over multiple meetings. 

After months of discussions and conversations, the town did give approval for a $112 million budget for the project, of which the town plans to get 20% reimbursed from the state. 

However, the town is trying to order its projects to make sure they don’t all hit at once. First Selectman Fred Camillo said during his budget presentation in 2023 that the town is working to do one school at a time to not overburden the taxpayers. 

“We support all of the projects—we just pushed them out a year. Right now, it’s Central, Old Greenwich would be next,” he said. “These are all worthwhile projects that have to be done.”

Still for families sending their students to the affected schools, it’s hard to hear that desperately needed repairs are still on hold.

Brian Jacoby, who called himself a “proud father” of three Greenwich Public School children said Old Greenwich was desperately in need of repairs.. 

“On a rainy day in Old Greenwich, you might find sewage floating in the lower-level classrooms,” he said. “Principal Jennifer Bencivengo was apologizing to parents for a stench that reminded us of New York City gutters on a 90 degree day.” 

In May 2024, the town’s Representative Town Meeting approved $43 million for the renovation/expansion project. The town also submitted an application to the state with the hope of getting about 15.5% reimbursed. If it’s put on the state’s grant list in December, the goal is to start work in summer 2025. 

Closing Schools to Save Money Down the Road

One of the ways districts are looking to save money—particularly in maintenance down the road—is by closing schools and either replacing them with new facilities or moving the students to other buildings in the district.

For example, as part of Stamford’s long range facilities plan, four schools would be closed—two middle schools, Cloonan and Dolan, and two elementary schools KT Murphy and Toquam. To help make sure there’s still adequate space, the plan also calls for converting three schools (Roxbury, Westover, and Hart) from K-5 schools to K-8 schools and adding space for 200 more students at Turn of River Middle School—in addition to building the new South Stamford school. The long-range plan estimated that closing those schools would save about $128.6 million. 

“The district aims to transform the landscape of SPS, invest in facilities, create better alignment of facilities to student population centers and improve overall utilization,” the plan states. 

But, as noted above, to do that new facilities have to be built and upgraded and right now Stamford is struggling to finalize its first project—Westhill High School. 

In Bridgeport, school officials proposed closing the Bridgeport Learning Center—along with five other schools—which is home to the district’s only preschool through 12th grade special education program. 

Part of the reason for even considering closing the schools was due to “unsafe building conditions and poor student performance.” 

“There is an immediate and desperate need to close several schools,” Superintendent Carmela Levy-David said at a news conference in March, adding they selected the schools that were “a hindrance to student learning and are, in many cases, not safe for students or staff,

“It is irresponsible to continue to operate schools that are low-performing, that are inefficient and a misuse of taxpayers’ resources,” she said. 

But as CT Mirror reported, parents and students pushed back against the closure, citing the program’s benefits and importance to the community. 

As a result, the district agreed not to close any of the schools for the next few years while it embarks on a comprehensive plan to review its facilities. 

Stacy Graham-Hunt, the director of communications for Bridgeport Public Schools, told CT Mirror that the district is “currently conducting a facilities management study and a demographic study. Once we receive the results from those studies, we will be informed on how to move forward with our schools.”