Superintendent of Schools Thomas Scarice writes:
The Board of Education has added an agenda item to their meeting tomorrow night (Thursday, January 18), inviting the Long Lots School Building Committee to provide an update to the community.
The meeting is in the Staples High School cafeteria, at 7 p.m. There will be ample time for public comment following the LLSBC update to the BOE.
The community has engaged in an ongoing debate regarding the use of the property adjacent to a planned new construction of Long Lots.
This matter will be brought before the Planning & Zoning Commission on Monday (January 22), when it is anticipated that the first selectwoman will resubmit a recommendation for the use of this property, based on feedback from P & Z at their previous meeting.
I want to emphasize the critical importance of this new construction project moving forward in a timely manner without delay. As determined by multiple professionals, the facility is at the end of its useful life and needs to be replaced. The decision to build a new construction was recommended by the BOE in June 2022.
Further delays of this project can present districtwide complications. As the town has experienced with Coleytown Middle School, major capital failures can lead to significant disruption for many students. Although a capital failure of that magnitude is not necessarily likely, other capital failures (e.g. failure of one of the 3 HVAC systems, increased water incursions, etc.) could necessitate alternative plans for a section of the school, warranting the displacement of a subsection of students.
Mold forced the closing – and subsequent renovation — of Coleytown Middle School.
Again, without a crystal ball, these events cannot be precisely predicted.
However, the recommendation for a new construction (a year and a half ago) was made to avoid any capital failures that could lead to significant disruption for the Long Lots community and other schools in Westport.
This is not only a Long Lots community issue. Advancing this project and maintaining the timeline for the opening of a new LLS in September 2026 is an issue for the entire school community, and larger Westport community.