Groton Middle School Building Plans Outlined

Superintendent Paul Kadri explained to the Board of Education Monday how Cutler and West Side middle schools would be changed to accommodate Groton's middle school students next fall.

The , and to close Fitch Middle School.

As a result, the district plans to add portables at both schools and put up or take down walls to make additional space.

Changes at Cutler

Plans for Cutler include these changes:

• Wall off two spaces in the media center
• Combine rooms 12 and 12A
• Turn room 1 near the main office into the guidance suite
• Upgrade the kitchen equipment to accommodate more students in the cafeteria
• Turn the technical education and health area into the nurses’ office and school-based health center
• Remove the closet in the chorus room, the kitchen equipment in room 28A and the counters and sinks in room 16
• Turn the showers into storage.
• Install sinks in rooms 3 and 5 so they can be used for science.

Changes at West Side

Plans for West Side include these changes:

• Move the school-based health center to the room near the cafeteria
• Put guidance in room 4.
• Divide the art room (room 23) into two classrooms for eighth grade.
• Move the art room to room 47, near music.
• Turn the showers into storage.
• Divide room 46, the old technical education room, and make a storage closet.
• Combine room 10 and a closet for math support
• Move the computer room from 31 to room 2
• Expand room 29

Kadri said the district wouldn't have enough classrooms next year for every teacher to have one.  Teachers of core subjects like math would have a classroom, he said, but others would have offices and teach in whatever classroom space was available.

Use of Portables

At West Side, the portables would be used for world language, and two teachers would share a room.  At Cutler, the portables would be used for remedial math and as open classrooms for electives.

Beth Horler, president of the Groton Education Association, which represents about 450 teachers districtwide, said after the meeting: “There are many issues that need to be explored and discussed.”

The portables and inside building work are expected to cost about $1.3 million, said Wes Greenleaf, director of buildings and grounds for Groton Public Schools.

He said his staff would begin removing asbestos floor tile and ceiling material during the April break.

“If I wait until school's out, I won’t have enough time,” he said.

Redistricting

Kadri said redistricting of students would be completed by the end of the month, and parents would then be notified.

Principals meet with staff next week, but decisions on where to place staff will wait until students are assigned to the schools. Fitch Middle School was the primary middle school for children with parents in the military, and the district is expected to consider this when placing staff.

Kadri also said Carolyn Doutre, who filled in for Fitch Middle School Principal Robert Pendolphi during a leave this winter, would become an on-call administrator during consolidation.

Doutre was principal of Noank School when it closed.