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But both entities are now working to come up with a different solution to the private school’s parking woes.
Waldorf School Trustee Jay Stroud wrote to the Hartford School Board in February proposing to pay “in the $10,000 range” for a 1.33-acre parcel of land just north of the 3.5-acre Waldorf School property on Bluff Road, taking it from Ottauquechee School on Dody Lane.
Stroud said the sale, which would expand the 180-student Waldorf School’s northern border, would allow it to relocate parking from its current cramped location behind the school to the newly acquired property.
Stroud wrote that, since “the area is highly congested during drop-off and pick-up times,” even the constant vigilance of Waldorf staff didn’t wholly alleviate safety concerns about cars and young children sharing the space.
“Simply stated, our current situation is very far from ideal for our children,” he wrote.
He said the proposal was motivated by the safety concerns.
“Above all, we hope to better protect all the children and adults in the area,” wrote Stroud, who came to the area in 2012 after a 25-year stint as headmaster of Tabor Academy in Marion, Mass.
The new parking lot would be one component of a larger master plan during which Waldorf plans to build a new school building, transform the current parking area into a program and outdoor play area.
According to meeting minutes, the Hartford School Board has not publicly addressed the proposal from the Waldorf School, but it held a 40-minute closed-door executive session meeting on Feb. 24 to discuss a “real estate purchase or lease option,” one of the topics that are exempted, in certain circumstances, from Vermont’s Open Meetings law,
School Board Chairwoman Lori Dickerson said on Monday that the Waldorf School’s request has not been discussed by the board publicly, and that she couldn’t disclose any topics that came up during executive session.
Earlier this month, in response to requests from the Valley News, Waldorf School Administrative Director Christine Scherding referred questions to DeBalsi, who said in an email that the proposal had been rejected.
“The board is not going to sell land to Waldorf,” DeBalsi wrote.
However, he wrote, the Hartford School Board “has me investigating other ideas for assisting them with their needs.”
DeBalsi later clarified that the Board had not taken a formal position on the proposal from Waldorf.
“I got the sense the Board would not sell the land to them,” he wrote, “since they asked me to investigate other solutions to assist Waldorf.”
Cathy Newton, principal of the 240-student Ottauquechee School, said on Monday she was eager to maintain the current good relationship that exists between the two schools.
“We have always shared parking with them, and they’ve shared parking with us,” she said. “We’re great neighbors and we want to keep that relationship.”
Scherding echoed those sentiments.
“We have a great relationship with them, a very collaborative relationship,” she said.
On Monday, DeBalsi said, again via email, that the ball was back in Waldorf’s court.
“Waldorf is working on some proposals for us to consider in regards to sharing the property,” he wrote. “I don’t know when I will hear back from them.”
Scherding said that the school faculty had just come back from a break, and had not yet drafted an alternative proposal.
Matt Hongoltz-Hetling can be reached at mhonghet@vnews.com or 603-727-3211.