Fate of New Lebanon School Project Could Be Decided by Greenwich Selectmen

The fate of the proposed new New Lebanon School could be decided Wednesday when the Greenwich Board of Selectmen hold a special meeting.

The board is expected to vote on whether to accept the New Lebanon School Building Committee recommendation to build a new 58,000 square foot facility behind the current school building on Mead Avenue. The plan needs the selectmen’s approval for Municipal Improvement (MI) status in order for it to be presented to the Planning and Zoning Commission.

The board is scheduled to meet at 1 p.m. Wednesday in the Cone Room of Town Hall.

The selectmen continue to question the proposed location of the school with its proximity to I-95, using part of a ravine and woodlands that now separate the school from the highway that Gov. Dannel Malloy has said will be widened by two lanes as part of his multi-billion dollar transportation infrastructure plan.

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Last week, at another special board meeting, Selectman John Toner voiced concern about Malloy’s plan. During a Dec. 2 speaking engagement before the Greenwich Retired Men’s Association, which Toner attended, Malloy told the nearly 300 attendees that he is committed to improving the state’s transportation infrastructure with a $100 billion 30-year plan that includes the Connecticut Turnpike that he described as “a parking lot” that costs the state billions in worker production every year.

The Greenwich Board of Education is under a state mandate to alleviate overcrowding in the Byram neighborhood school and to close the student achievement gap. The school board also is dealing with the selectmen’s concern over having students attend classes in the current facility during a proposed two-year construction period.

The selectmen are opposed to keeping students on campus while parents, the building committee and education officials believe students can be kept safely in the building and use the construction project as part of its International Bacaulaureate curriculum. School Superintendent William McKersie has said relocating students during construction could cost up to $2 million.