POLL: New Wilton School Project Could Cost $40 Million

Calling it a “rather incomplete document,” Malcolm Whyte, chair of Wilton’s Council on Public Facilities (CPF), advised that the Board of Education rewrite their plan for renovating Miller-Driscoll School to include a better “vision" at Monday night's Board of Selectmen meeting. 

The project, which is still in stage one, encapsulates a new nursery school addition and a maintenance overhaul of the elementary school, and is projected to cost about $40 million—if it’s approved, but it won’t come near the budget until 2013 at the earliest.

Whyte, who is also an architect, said that the preschool plan was basically complete and “describes the vision of the space needed” and that “an architect would fully understand what needs to be designed.” However, he said that the Miller-Driscoll portion was little more of a to-do list revamps and repairs.

Whyte asked the Board of Selectmen to allow the Board of Education to sit down with the CPF, the Energy Commission, and/or other relevant committees to discuss the plan together. Current rules state that the CPF sends their assessments of the project to its sponsor—in this case, the Board of Ed—and the sponsor reads the assessment and amends where necessary. Whyte appeared to be calling for an easier, clearer form of discussion. The Board of Selectmen stated that they might not change the rules, but seemed open to the idea.

Whyte urged for the school board to repair Miller-Driscoll sooner rather than waiting for the plan to pass. He said that the draft was basically a plan used “to catch up on 15 years of maintenance” by “basically gut[ting] the building and refit[ting] it.”

“Take out [from the document] those pieces that are needed now. Let the roof keep leaking, and get more buckets" but get the most important stuff fixed, he said. "If it doesn’t get passed till 2013, [construction] won’t start till 2014. It would be too long,” said Whyte

Whyte said that the board must ask itself, “What is the future of technology in education?” He said that schools must plan the right amount of space for new technology, including outlets and room for tools such as SmartBoards.

“As an educator, Macolm, it’s amazing to hear you say that,” said Selectmen Ted Hoffstatter.

While the board may have agreed with some of Whyte’s sentiments, they said the renovations list needed to be reviewed.

“We need a third party to say that those conditions are actually needed. I simply find it possible that it’s more of a wish list rather than a needs list,” said Selectmen Hal Clark. “I for one will be a very difficult sell, and the voters of Wilton will also be a difficult sell.”

“I’ve taught in Bridgeport, I’ve seen what they see as functional,” said Hoffstatter, echoing Clark’s concerns.

“This project, if it passes, will probably the biggest financial project this town has ever made,” said Clark.

And don't expect any rebates from the state, either. Only seven or eight percent of the cost would be refunded in grants, said Whyte.