“Parents for a New LLS” is a grassroots campaign founded by Westporters and Long Lots Elementary School mothers Sarah Morrison and Veronica Tysseland. Their goal is to get a new school built for the children of Longs Lots ASAP.
The group is not affiliated with any political party. Anyone who shares their mission is welcome to join.
The revised 8-24 submitted yesterday by our First Selectwoman represents a compromise, and should be unanimously approved by the Planning and Zoning Commissioners.
Based on our conversations with various members of town boards, we feel that this newly designed proposal takes into account their feedback and makes the appropriate adjustments to the prior submitted 8-24. Furthermore, it satisfies all requests from affected parties, while also taking into account the topographical limitations of 13 Hyde Lane.
All elements of the property are retained on site, with the exception of an existing substandard baseball field which is eliminated.
Given that we are in the 8-24 stage of the process, final size determinations of each element have not been presented, and it is not our place to speculate on them. They are subject to change based on the necessary size of the new school and the adjoining “shooter safe” parking lot, which remain the priorities.
As it pertains to the parking lot, the proposed site plan currently shows 175 to 195 spaces. The existing lot today has 195 spaces. Any parent will tell you it is not even sufficient for daily pickup needs.
Add Stepping Stones Preschool there, with our most fragile under-5population, and it becomes obvious that more parking will be required.
In short, the parking lot will inevitably change, which will have a domino effect on the size of the fields and gardens. This parking lot must also be designed to include “shooter safe” features in keeping with today’s standards, which may further dictate the size and layout of the subsequent field and gardens.
The current Long Lots School parking lot. (Photo/Dan Woog)
The most critical elements that we believe should be highlighted in the 8-24 include:
- Rebuilding of the multipurpose field and gardens will allow proper drainage to be installed on Terrace 1.
- The gardens will be rebuilt to maintain the requested buffer between the neighbors and the relocated field.
- The proposed field space shrinks to accommodate the gardens; final size TBD based on the aforementioned size of the new school and adjoining parking lot.
- 13 Hyde Lane currently houses a school, fields and a community garden. The modified plan submitted houses a school, fields and a community garden. Again, the size of each of these is yet to be determined.
As parents, we feel this plan represents the requested compromises to appease all critical constituents. We urge P&Z to pass this plan unanimously, so that professionals can get to work on the details to be presented at the site plan stage.
Any further delays on this project is unacceptable; attempts at compromise were made and denied many months ago. We urge our fellow community members to accept this updated plan, which does satisfy the specific wishes of different factions of our community.
The political machinations of the past several months have not gone unnoticed, and are inappropriate in this context. Long Lots parents and all of our supporters in the community will no longer accept the finger pointing and unproductive diatribe that has overtaken this project.
We trust in our elected officials and our volunteer working committees and sincerely believe you should do the same. It is the only way forward.
So many “opinions” and so much emotion on this topic. I keep looking, but fail to find, the final rationale for why a new school is required – not desired – and how the economics and schedule differ between new vs remodeled. It’s THE fundamental issue to ensure proper evaluation is completed. Everything else (multi-purpose field, garden, parking) is a domino from there. There’s a political process of course which always slows things down, so calling for a “rush to action” is admirable but let’s take a step back and thoughtfully answer the core school question first. A new school would be a huge capital cost to the town and involve many changes to that area including the inevitable relocation of the garden (don’t kid yourself, it’s happening).
If you do a remodel where will the preschool go?
Mark, There is an election in 10 months. Maybe that could change the trajectory!
There are many reasons that others more qualified than I have researched and enumerated, but I also believe that logistically it would also be complex. Where would the children go to school during the renovation? Also, where would Stepping Stones go?
(Long, multi-faceted reply, because I know I only get three, now!)
I’m not objecting to Stepping Stones being there (it doesn’t impact my life whatsoever), if the space can be created to handle it without creating major disruptions for other stake-holders, but can I simply ask (without creating a firestorm) what makes Long Lots a good place for Stepping Stones? Is it simply a logistical convenience because if this is the one building with construction, it can be more easily built here? Is it a better location than other elementary schools? Why here, why now? Because it obviously increases the capacity need for the school and traffic going in and out.
To Mark’s point – yeah, for all of the calls for expediency, nothing about this is likely to be fast.
(And I would *guess* that P&Z will bifurcate. How can you approve an “it might go here but it might go there” plan re: fields and gardens. For that matter, I don’t see how the new plan addresses the concerns expressed by P&Z about the first plan. The delay seemed less about meaningful changes and more about “let’s give folks a week to express outrage and create political pressure,” which is something that I don’t think will influence P&Z.)
Folks need to understand that once funding is approved, that can be petitioned to a Town-wide referendum, which will create delays (and that’s assuming it passes). And if you think the Staples neighbors were angry about lights around the football field, that is nothing compared to these neighbors. Inevitable lawsuits (if this otherwise goes through) will create further delays. Had the Administration made the effort to involve impacted parties from the start, there would be an opportunity to consensus build. Unfortunately, the waters have been so poisoned that there seems little opportunity for that any more. (It doesn’t help when the LLSBC blames the gardeners, when the LLSBC were the ones running around like Oprah, going “you get a ball field, and you get a ball field!”, which had little to do with the actual School.)
Hi Chris. I’m going to try this a different way. I wish to address your comment with respect and clarity, because I think what you’re saying here is important. When you go into detail, as you have before, in all the ways you anticipate people continuing to fight against progressing toward a new LLS, it reads like a threat. I know you’ve framed it as an outside observation or prediction, but it is not received that way at all. Instead it is taken by myself and the hundreds of LLS parents as a warning. A warning that if we keep fighting on behalf of our children, that either you or the folks that you speak for/sympathize with will just look to bog down and delay the project even further by any means necessary. It is comments like this one that convince us that there are people in this town who desire to “hold our children’s heath, safety, and well being hostage” until they get their way. This is a sentiment I expressed verbatim on this blog and that choice of phrase was deemed “un-civil.” But I feel it is important to make clear to you and anyone else reading that this is the effect of what you say and the effect of what we’re seeing play out with the rebuild issue as folks continue to look for any bureaucratic technicality to stop this thing in its tracks. So while I understand all the calls from Dan Woog and the many other politicians and residents to dial down the anger and vitriol in this discourse, that’s going to be hard to achieve when parents feel their kids’ well being is under threat, either directly or in a more “roundabout” way as with your comment. I’d like to assume that you don’t fully realize the impact of your words, so I’m taking this opportunity to inform you. I hope that maybe you might reconsider, if not your position on this issue, perhaps the way in which you are choosing to fight for it.
If you don’t expect aggrieved parties to exercise their legal rights, maybe you should think about whether aggrieving them is a good idea.
When SOME of the vocal LLS parents advocated for a baseball field (since withdrawn) over the gardens, that had NOTHING to do with the health or safety of their children. (BOE certainly did that when they rubber-stamped the plan that P&Z kicked back.)
When SOME of the LLS parents yell for “no more delays” they seem to be saying that they don’t want this project to go through proper approval procedures. (Or that they seem to show a lack of understanding that there are proper approval procedures.)
You seem to be saying that people should forfeit their legal rights (what you call “bureaucratic technicalities”) just because this is something that you want. That’s not how the world works.
(If I wanted to be all dramatic, I could say, “gee, that read like a threat aimed at people who would not want to forfeit those legal rights for your benefit.”)
I’m happy to remind people of their rights. While you have pointed a finger at the gardeners, there are a variety of interested parties in Town who have valid interests in the size and scope of the project. Clearly, some people think the project is too expensive. Others may feel directly impacted by the project in ways that impact their property values negatively. There is no reason for any of them to not explore every legal option to protect themselves and their families in the same way that you would want to protect yourself and your family.
If you are worried about that happening, maybe someone should have listened to the BOE when they urged the LLSBC to sit down with all stakeholders, rather than picking and choosing those from whom they sought input before pushing ahead. An attempt to get people without a rooting interest on board with the project in total would have been a good idea. You seem to want everyone to care about what you want, without caring what anyone else wants in the slightest (and you have made those thoughts clear in many comments both here and on WJ).
I am obviously not making a threat. I am pointing out what will likely happen based on three decades of living in this Town. I have no idea how long you have lived here, but the fight over lights being installed at the Staples football field went on for years. When they finally announced plans in 2009, neighbors sued, and it wasn’t settled until 2012. NOBODY wants that kind of delay in the school being rebuilt.
Consensus building is a far better idea than trying to emotionally blackmail people because it is something that you want.
I believe that is #3 for me.
We faced a surge of residents around 1957 that was much worse than any problems today. There were too many new students in town, so while Burr Farms Elementary School was being built, we had a split session day. Some kids went in the morning and others like me, had to attend the afternoon session. But here’s the interesting part. There’s no more Burr Farms School. It was demolished because after a while it wasn’t needed anymore! I predict that Westport will experience a reduction in student population within ten years. Baby boomers and the Connecticut Turnpike (I-95) caused families to move into town back then, and I’m sure there was a Covid surge that brought many new families and students this time around. But it’s my belief that the student population will dwindle significantly over the next ten to twelve years!
Jack — I’m sorry that you were asked to do this as a child. Just because it was done then does not make it right, and it certainly doesn’t mean we should ask our children to do that today if that is your suggestion.
I would also point out that in the 1950s and 1960s, it was far less common to have 2 working parents. How are working parents to handle a shortened school day exactly?
Further — the continuous ebb and flow of the student body is to be expected, but LLS has always, and will likely always be the biggest school district in this town. But this is not the issue – the issue is that the current school building is at the end of its useful life. It houses 600 students who would otherwise have no where else to go. As it stands, we are playing whack a mole with the deteriorating infrastructure. It costs the town a pretty penny to tide us over to a new school building. We can no longer be the boy with his finger in the damn. It’s time for a new school – one that will serve this town dutifully for the next 50-70 years.
What has changed in the poulation of the Long Lots area in the past three years that affects the school? Just curious. As population increases, what happens?
Stephanie, This surge is a “ head fake.” Student population will go down for a couple of reasons. One is the expensive house prices for young families, and because Covid has leveled off, people aren’t going to feel they need to leave populated areas. Greens Farms School even closedown for a while, from what I understand, because of a lack of sufficient students to keep the school open. A new LL construction is a short sighted vision. The student population will go down in the school. There will be plenty of room for the younger kids.
I thought the population of Long Lots area during and after Covid literally increases! What am I missing here? How are stats getting distorted?
Stephanie, I guess this is my third response and the last one. If you notice, I said in ten years the student population will dwindle significantly. Will there be enough new students in townnto fill the classrooms once these First and Second graders leave Long Lots and move on? This is a Westport trend. Burr Farms was torn down; Greens Farms was closed as a school for a period of time… why? .. because the school population in Westport is like a rollercoaster! It will start to head down, and in ten years you’ll look back, and see that I’m right and people will ask, “Why did Westport build that new 100 dollar school back 12 years ago?”
Last comment. Do you live in Westport currently and have you been to Long Lots inside, in a while?
Mark,
There is ample reports and disclosure on the current state of the building (it is past its natural life and is failing in every possible way, on a daily basis), as well the non-feasiblity of remodeling. There are prisons that provide better accommodations to inmates than LLS kids endure on a daily basis. Its time for P&Z to demonstrate they are beyond the juvenile politics and useless finger pointing about the past. Everyone must sacrifice a little, EXCEPT for the kids. They have been sacrificing for a decade now.
Bill
I have grown increasingly worried about this school. Do you believe LLES unsafe for children? I am beginning to think it is, based on comments from many parents and staff (ie at the BOE meeting). The building seems to be grossly mismanaged if teachers are having to navigate weather conditions and move classroom stuff around when it rains.
Why have wasps been a problem for A YEAR ?!? Has an exterminator been called? I am truly confounded by the alleged safety conditions of the school as described by so many parents and staff. Why have these issues not been adequately addressed, and why do we continue to allow children in there? Somebody is going to lawyer up soon. Why did it take a tense and heated exchange at the BOE with the Superintendent to get action on this?
Fortunately, it looks like the school will get remediated to be properly operational through at least 2027 with some short term action as suggested by Mr. Harrington and Mr. Stern.
This has been 9 years in the making, as pointed out by Rep. Karpf, who has lived through the progressive deterioration. Worth finding out just who was in charge back in circa 2014.
Hi Toni,
This is nothing new, the stories are just now being shared more publicly. BOE and Mr. Harrington are 100% aware of all of these issues unless they have been intentionally ignoring the preponderance of information that has been flowing from multiple public channels for years. Action has, and will continue to be taken to try and keep the school running through and past its natural life…we don’t have a choice. Like any piece of physical infrastructure, there comes a point where failure at some level is inevitable. These are facts and circumstances that people in governance know (or should know). It was frankly more concerning that Mr. Harrington was actually surprised, and any of this was ‘new’ news.
If these horrible conditions have been in place for awhile in a progressively deteriorating manner, I suggest removing the students to an alternate location. Redistricting is long overdue anyway. It would make reconstruction far less expensive and would get done far more quickly.
Hi Toni,
I think the overall goal here is to cause as little disruption as possible in these kids education, school experience, and really their lives as a whole. This is why it’s been decided to keep the current school operational while simultaneously building a new school on the same property. Consequently, it’s why the entirety of the property will be needed to execute this plan. You might recall from last night’s meeting that the Building Committee stated they were fully committed to prioritizing the kids throughout this process. While we all probably assumed that already, it was really wonderful to be reminded of it publicly.
Moving 600 students, and impacting hundreds more by ripple effect, certainly does not seem to put students first. Scarice made very clear that ongoing maintenance issues are being handled, while emphasizing that a new building is needed ASAP.
I agree with Toni.
It does seem that conditions are so horrific it merits closing down the school and relocating.
God forbid we would be sending our children to a place everyone is saying is unsafe. This appears to have escalated to a situation the parents appear frightened of.
I think we should all take this seriously.
The children deserve it.
Toni,
Have you really grown increasingly worried about this school? If so, I urge you to write to the P&Z commissioners to support the 8-24 application to rebuild the new school and minimize disruption to the students at Long Lots and other schools!
It is also clear that the Westport Community Gardens lacks leadership and vision to move forward, especially when a member of the WCG steering committee is making such comments to cause a total chaos in town. Haven’t we learned anything from the last CMS debacle!
I have done just that repeatedly Joe. From Day One.
Here’s the problem that has nothing to do with the school: It’s the insistence on integrating other unrelated town issues — requiring budget, land-use, etc— into the school project.
There is no site plan. There is no drainage plan. There is no staging plan. All there is is a plan to covertly build a shiny new bigger “replacement” multisport field to satisfy the interests of private sports clubs. And baseball is back into the mix if you read the PZC comments.
This has NOTHING TO DO with Long Lots Elementary School. This is the reason for the conflict. Drop the athletic field push and this goes through in no time. Could have gone through in October, instead of the purposeful delay by FSW until after the election. Could have passed the PZC on 12/17 but for those athletic fields.
Think of the school, Joe. I am now convinced the Town will do anything, include CONTINUING TO delaying this project, to get an athletic field.
If I was you, I’d be pushing to relocate those students until the new school is built. Before someone ends up with an allergic reaction to a wasp sting.
Hey my man, tax paying residents have been worried about this school for years… not just this one.. but in particular this one.
It’s no secret over 10 years it’s been brought up but the same ppl, now advocating for asap action are the ones who dissed it over the last 10 years.
Everything’s on public record btw. All for show..
Always has been…
Joe.. you build a house.. you maintain it or it falls down.
Same goes for a school.. or a pool…
you must maintain it.
Unfortunately this administration does not agree.
They build nice things and let them fall down.. then they look to build a shiny new trophy somewhere else. look at the parking lots in town, look at the fields,
All of it has been a trophy til it was not.
The school needs help.. nobody disagrees..
the security threat is garbage. 2 decades prove it. It actually does not matter what chief foti says… the 2 decades speak for themselves. He is out of line making such statements.
The WCG are a group adjacent to the school, long proven they do not share the same campus. And most important long proven they are not a security threat.
Take them out of the equation.
No reason they are even in it.
Get your school built/renovated.
And bury the hatchet you have with the gardens.
Build your school minus involving the gardens or the neighbors.
Quit trying to do a land grab ! THAT IS WHAT IS DELAYING YOU
.
Toni/Mary:
Following your reasoning that we should just focus on building the school without disturbing anyone else, how do you expect us to do that, honestly?
I guess your plan now is to call for the school to be shutdown, to create an even bigger crisis in town, and cause as much irresponsible havoc as possible, all for one single purpose of “saving the gardens”!
But, why should I stop you? You both are actually helping us without knowing it. Because you are just expanding the number of people who are fed up with this nonsense.
A much more effective solution to the shooter risk is to hire armed resource officers and lock the entrance doors. Metal detectors would help also if you’re really serious about this risk. A deranged person will be willing to walk an extra 25 yards through a larger parking lot if their goal is to shoot up a school. Further protection would include allowing anyone into the building without being precleared by a member of Long Lots School.
Option two of relocating the gardens behind the school actually removes any barrier between the garden and the school versus having a parking lot in between the school and garden, so that option should be removed if the main concern of shooter or sexual predator protection.
Joe, sadly, in this day and age we do already have an armed Westport Police officer at our school much of the time. We also have locked entrance doors to the building. We also must show ID to the front office and be recorded in their system before we are allowed in the building. All we are asking for is equal treatment that the other schools get around town- no non-school affiliated persons on school property during school hours.
Honest question here: I’ve seen the security issues raised often. Wakeman Fields are part of the Bedford Middle School campus; the turf field is used by phys. ed. classes. Throughout the day, non-school personnel are walking in the park, often with their dogs. I’m wondering why no one has brought this up as a concern.
It was briefly brought up in a meeting (I cannot remember which one- possibly board of finance where the police chief spoke about his safety concerns with the gardens) and I believe it is technically not allowed. I would agree it needs to be enforced if in fact it is not allowed. And if it is allowed I would absolutely have the same concerns that I have with the gardens. I am not well versed in the goings-on at Bedford since I only have elementary kids but a happy to investigate this issue and advocate for them as well.
Wakeman Fields are not available to the public during school hours. I don’t think people realize they shouldn’t be walking their dogs while school is in session.
https://www.westportct.gov/government/departments-a-z/parks-and-recreation/athletic-fields
Hi Dan. I absolutely echo Rachel’s response here that if similar security concerns are warranted at Bedford, then we should be advocating for solving those too. I do think the subtext in your question is an implication that this security issue at LLS that has been raised is not actually a genuine concern but more a tactic or strategy to win the debate. I’m here to assure you the concern is REAL. Sending children off to school in 2024 brings with it a fear and anxiety that other generations I’m sure could simply never relate to. And I’d wager that this security concern will end up being to biggest issue among so many that prove a a public elementary school/pre school and public garden should not be sharing the same property. That we have the opportunity to solve that problem (among others) while simultaneously building a new school without disrupting the children is actually an amazing situation that should be celebrated (as was mentioned by some at the recent Board of Ed meeting).
For anyone who is wondering still why new build versus renovate, this has already been looked at by the Long Lots School Building Committee. The information can be found in the feasibility study. There are two concepts that relates to renovation with details analysis on cost and timeline.
– Concept A: Renovate as New (starting at Page 36)
– Concept B: Renovate with Large Addition (starting at Page 49)
Feasibility Study:
https://www.westportct.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/80903/638321071632270000
I’d love to know what the Public Site and Building Commission thinks.
Thanks. I’ve read thru these previously and along with other people commenting here have raised a number of questions & concerns. Some would suggest (myself included) that the renovate options are conveniently priced much higher than they could be. Dubious to be kind. Unfortunately to my knowledge, the details and narrative around how these plans were formulated have never been shared in a public forum. I believe a previous person actually laid out a proposal that would renovate the school at a much lower cost. Problem is from the get-go, the objective was clearly to justify a new school, so it wouldn’t be a shock if the proposals were steered in that direction. Lots of $ at stake here. Well worth a hard look.
The cost to renovate are higher because that’s how bad the state of the building is. There is not much to salvage. They would need to rebuild everything from the foundation and up. And there is also the logistics of doing this in a school at full capacity and still functional would simply extend the timeline of this project.
Mark – there are very real reasons a renovation costs more that have nothing to do with “convenience” or trying to push through a new school. The actual reason is that in order to renovate the school with the kids inside it, and bring classroom size up to todays educational standards, you would not only need to basically rebuild the existing building, but also you would need to add sizable additions on to the school. When they looked at at the feasibility of doing that you ended up with a 146,000 square foot school. So assuming you have some basis for understanding construction price per sq ft, it should be very clear why a 146,000 square foot school is more expensive than a 126,000 square foot school. I could continue, but I would urge you to really read through the documents of the feasibility study that Joe referenced.
No one is suggesting a new school unnecessarily.
I have yet to understand why they need to put in another ball field when we already have so many. I’d like to repeat that the amount of parking needs to be addressed in a contemporary way especially in this town and the “need” to drop of hundreds of children everyday in private cars. I will offer up again:
May 28, 2023 review— ‘Paved Paradise’ Examines the Outsize Role of Parking in America … Why more parking isn’t necessarily better, and other surprising truths
Parking determines the design of new buildings and the fate of old ones, patterns of traffic and the viability of transit, and neighborhood politics.
it’s a multi p field that many could use
It is not a new ball field. The multipurpose field is replacing the field that is being lost due to the construction of the new school. These fields are used by all Westport kids for soccer and other sports, for Peak after school camps and for LLS students for traditions like Field Day. What I have yet to understand and what seems to have gone unanswered is why the Garden should not be moved to another location, offsite, where it can have more space, a permanent home, access to parking and bathrooms, and they can get started right away as opposed to having to restart the garden in at least two years.
Because Ericka, the gardeners have every bit as much right as the school to stay where they are. And by staying where they are they delay nothing. Everyone knows staging was just a ruse…. No contractor can require nor does a contractor getting this lottery ticket need staging included.. boo hoo.. instead of profiting 25 million it might be 21 million. I’m sure he will suck it up.
And there’s plenty room on the school campus to NOT interfere with the gardens who DO NOT, just in case you forgot, sit on school campus. Same address, different properties.
There is plenty room for a currently today sized field to be put back after construction.
Does that make sense to you.
It may not hit your wish list. I’m sure you wish it were bigger… but it won’t be.
But thats just how communities work.
School can be built, gardens can stay, and be accessible. It was all so simple til the administration got greedy….
Looking for twofers…
Till then this was easy to work out.
There’s no reason to have to restart the garden in 2 years.
That’s another fairytale bully tactic.
The gardens by rights should be fully accessible during construction to say otherwise by llsbc or the administration is to not be truthful.
But again Ericka, live here for 23 years and you will realise most of what you hear these days are lies.
That’s sad but fact.
So I am sure there’s plenty room for the ball field sized as it currently is( most important) not any bigger. Remember this is not high school..
the field is plenty big. If people want a bigger field I am sure it can go where you all think the gardens should go…
With parking and toilets.
You seem to be operating with a different set of facts from the rest of us (the building committee and Lou included) about the logistics of this project. So unfortunately that answer makes no sense and will likely satisfy no one here. Any other advocates for the garden care to explain why a new, better, bigger, more permanent garden isn’t a better option for all?
Mrs. Pritikin
Now you know what’s best for everyone?
Intensification of use. One just needs to look at the onslaught of sports aficionados filing letter after letter on at the PZC on how they will use the new multisport field. Even baseball is back. Good luck getting that special permit.
What additional “facts” have been uncovered since the P&Z meeting on December 18th to foster this new proposal? Did Parks & Rec finally provide a detailed usage schedule of all the fields for the 2023 calendar year instead of the color-coded grid that no one was able to read or decipher? If so, is the public going to have sufficient time to review the results prior to the next P&Z meeting ? Why has the supposedly much needed Babe Ruth league field been scrapped for a multi-purpose field? Could it be because baseball field usage proved that a 4th babe ruth league field was NOT needed, even though at the October 30th Parks & Rec meeting Parks & Rec tried to convince the taxpayers that one was needed by using misleading information (see pg 2 of the Parks & Rec Property Review & Usage report dated September 23rd).
Until a detailed usage report of all the fields has been produced I can not see how a new multi-purpose field on the Hyde Lane property can be approved. If there really had been a critical need for an additional field why did it wait to be coupled with the Long Lots School project which wasn’t going to start construction until the fall of ’24?
Why haven’t the 4 NON-profit organizations that have a vested interest in the towns fields gotten together to see how they could best utilize the $3.8 million they have sitting in cash & investments to rectify the dire field situation and then present that plan to P&Z? The lack of urgency on the part of these organizations shows that it isn’t as dire a situation as being presented and its more of a convenient land & money grab. It makes you wonder what else in the $100 million budget for this project is NOT necessary. Hopefully the Finance Committee will scrutinize this when requested to authorize the funding for this project.
FYI: The $3.8 million figure is taken from the balance sheets of the latest tax filings (Form 990) of Westport Soccer Assoc ($1.191 million), Westport Baseball & Softball ($1.144 million), Westport PAL ($1.037 million) and Friends of Westport Parks & Rec ($428 thousand). You would think with the incredible amount of money sitting on the balance sheets of these NON-profit organizations the possibilities would be endless on what can be done to the EXISTING fields in town. For example, overhauling the underutilized Doubleday field into the premier multi-purpose field in town. Also, Doubleday & Wakeman baseball fields which have been neglected (pitching mounds not the standard 10″, grass growing in the infield dirt, dangerous infield lips, etc) could be drastically improved including adding dugouts, scoreboards, etc.
These are among many unanswered questions that need to be addressed before the most expensive project in town gets approval from P&Z and the Finance Committee.
The two authors of this opinion piece articulate their views quite well. My concern includes the following assertions:
1. “Any further delays on this project is unacceptable”
2. “…it satisfies all requests from affected parties.”
3. This revised plan “does satisfy the specific wishes of different factions of our community”.
4. “It is the only way forward.”
While these obviously represent the perspective of this advocacy group, these 4 statements are just not true.
A decision to spend $100+ million, doubling Westport’s debt, without exploring ALL viable options is what is unacceptable to the residents of Westport who will be mandated to pay for it, as well as the students who will be educated there. Construction decisions based upon emotion, frustration and expediency is unacceptable. Ignoring credible and viable alternatives is unacceptable. Settling on “good enough” is unacceptable. The unwillingness to take whatever time is necessary to get this undertaking right is unacceptable.
Not prioritizing the optimal outcome, averting regrets, community consensus, and fiscal responsibility is unacceptable.
While I respect Mr. Scalise’s concerns, his assertion today that: “In all of the considerations of this project, nothing is more important than opening a new school in September 2026” is far less credible than it is disappointing pandering.
Everyone who has been responsible for momentous undertakings understands that NO intelligent decision-making ever prioritizes an “ASAP/at all costs” imperative over the critical considerations inherent in “getting it right”. THAT is a recipe for error and regrets.
Regardless of the understandable, appropriate frustration and concerns of immediately impacted students and parents, giving in to impatience at this critical juncture – as tempting as it may be – is simply wrong and unsupported by anyone invested in seeking the most desirable outcome.
So specific to the above 4 erroneous assertions:
A. Taking whatever time is necessary to getting this project IS acceptable – in fact it’s an imperative.
B. At this juncture, many requests from affected parties HAVE NOT been addressed. The Westport Public Site and Building Commission has been virtually pleading. Contractors with pertinent expertise have been pleading. Asserting that “…it satisfies all requests from affected parties.” doesn’t make it so. Please stop ignoring the fact that “affected parties” extend well beyond the Long Lots community.
C. This revised plan DOES NOT satisfy all the specific wishes of different factions of our community. See item B.
D. Clearly, the path that your group is endorsing is NOT the only way forward for the Westport community at large. In fact, it may likely not even be the most appropriate for you, for the LL students. Please read Mr. Vallone’s excellent recommended course of action for a thorough understanding of this comment.
WE ARE FORTUNATE that, as Mr. Vallone indicates, we still have the time and ability to do what’s right without wasting further precious time. A path leading to a best outcome has been presented. All it now requires is having the collective intelligence to take it – and possessing just a bit more patience. The optimal outcome, averting regrets, community consensus, and fiscal responsibility requires it.
Political expediency, community frustration, and parental emotion – no matter how understandable and sincerely expressed – is not anyone’s friend. The 28,000 residents of Westport are not lemmings – and despite pressures to do so, our leadership must not shuttle us en mass headlong in one direction without having all potential destinations in hand
#3 and I’ve hit my quota.
Joe Vallone’s excellent suggestions can be found here:
https://westportjournal.com/opinion/opinion-demand-better-for-yet-to-be-designed-long-lots/
I am fairly new to Westport ( hasn’t even been a year). Before moving when I was able to come to Long Lots and see the school I was actually very much impressed. (No clue of any of these issues until it was brought to my attention) I was impressed there was a library for kids to access. As was my son because his school didn’t have a library. The size of the gym and just the school overall. Maybe it is where my son went to school previously and the things I had to fight for when my son went to an inner city school, or maybe it’s the teacher in me. Why cant we all just be grown ups and by what ever means get this school built for the children??!! I just am blown away how grown ups are acting about a what I read $100 million project!!! Seems everyone wants it fixed. Let’s all agree to disagree and have a place for the kids to learn. This is $100 million that is being invested into the future. It really internally breaks my heart that this hasn’t been able to go forward.
Why are so many kids driven to school? Do we not have enough school buses?
This is a multifaceted issue. There has been a history of bus delays since Covid and since the school start times were changed. There are too few bus drivers and lots of inconsistencies. Here has been my personal experience and I know many other parents are experiencing similar issues. Last year we had the same bus driver all year and he was fantastic but the bus arrived home very very late. First our bus had to complete a middle school route that he clearly did not have time to complete in a timely manner. School dismissed at 3:45 and the bus would arrive at LLS at the earliest 4:00 pm. I live 3 minutes from the school and the bus would drop my son at 4:20. Many after school activities begin at 4, 4:30, or even 5 and it is difficult or impossible to make. Therefore a large number of parents are required to pick up their kids. This year we switched bus companies, lost many of our regular drivers and the bus situation is 10x worse. Yesterday my children’s bus was combined with another bus. They did not arrive home until 4:35, almost 1 hour after school lets out. This and many other instances are a reason I pick up much of the time and cannot rely on the bus. And why it is imperative that there is ample parking during and after school construction.
Why not just ask ChatGPT the right answer to this debacle?
Safety is not an issue, simply limit the gardeners to non school time as Chief Koskinas recommended.
The allocation of space for gardens or athletic fields doe not delay moving ahead. Those are issues separate from decisions as to the actual design of the school. No true design now exists.
Our Boards of Education over the last thirty years have simply done a poor job in anticipating needs, planning for those needs and executing. Our kids are affected and so are everyone’s taxes.
A handful of outspoken gardeners vs. several thousand children and future generations to come to expand and tap their unknown gift and abilities in athletics while making friends and relationships with large chance of scholarship and building themselves?
The letter on 06880 by Mr. Weinberg vs. the gardener emails…which is the truth?
Children and education is paramount.. Top 100 school districts in the USA, nationally ranked athletics…preserve and continue growth.
Stop politicizing this. A new school is needed. My children went there two decades ago and it was a mess then. Some serious selfish political individuals eyeing to climb higher, while cutting their nose off to spite their face.
BOF & PZ, knock it off. Focus on the SCHOOL.