Wilder —
“I’m extremely angry,” said White. “The Wilder School houses the most vulnerable students in our community. They’re being left out of the equation.”
White’s comments come as the Hartford School District wraps up a short-term fix to the most egregious safety problems at the school — a $275,000 project to remove asbestos, and replace the aged heating system, which was unreliable and included exposed radiators that burned both children and staff members in the Regional Alternative Program.
Up until Thursday, district administrators were considering delaying the opening of the school because the boiler renovation project, which was not fully complete until Monday, had displaced the Regional Alternative Program’s summer classes to the nearby Dothan Brook School.
“We were in such outrageous disarray,” Principal Roisin Viens said on Monday morning. “We really did not imagine that it was going to be up to snuff.”
Viens spoke from one of the classrooms, digging educational items out of one of several cardboard boxes strewn about the floor as other staff members hurried to put their own classrooms in order for the first day of school.
Viens said staff members were doing their best to see the disruption as an opportunity.
“Because they tore things out, things needed to be repainted anyway, so we explored calming colors to be able to create a space that elicits comforting and calm,” Viens said.
The time in Dothan Brook was a mixed bag, she said.
“The kids were absolutely fantastic and respectful of the space, but it’s such a stark difference to bring them back here, you know,” Viens said. “So they were able to spend time in a space that is really beautiful and really has all the bells and whistles and things and then they come back here and it is — it feels like, ‘yeah, this is your school.’ We know it could be so much better, and the kids mentioned it. You know: ‘They have such a nice school.’ And that’s hard. That’s hard, you know?”
Viens and other staff members were quick to express gratitude for what they had, even if things weren’t on par with the district’s other educational settings.
Instead of teachers taking turns warming, serving and cleaning food, there will be a food worker on staff for the first time, Viens pointed out.
“We have a lunch lady now,” she said. “That’s huge.”
On the second floor, Andrea Barrett, a classroom clinician from the Clara Martin Center, said she’s been with the program for 13 years, and that her favorite part of the job is seeing how motivated the students are to work toward change and growth.
But the classrooms, many of which are large and have an institutional feel, are a challenge, she said.
“It’s so big and so loud. There’s a lot of noise pollution,” Barrett said. She said teachers often dip into their own pockets to try to bridge the gap on classroom needs.
“I think the school district does a good job trying to set forth those needs, but I think clearly we put in our own money to make things happen, you know? Whether it’s breakfast food, cupcakes for, you know, birthdays, or things like books.”
The Norwich Avenue building, constructed in 1912, the school served neighborhood students until the district combined those children into Dothan Brook. The Regional Alternative Program opened in the space about 20 years ago, and has slowly grown over time.
The School Board voted unanimously in January to support the boiler replacement, shortly after voting, 3-2, against sending a broader $5 million renovation bond to voters. Much of the cost of the bond would have been met by energy efficiency improvements, and by cost savings associated with combining the Hartford Autism Regional Program into the building. At the time, School Board members who voted in the majority said that Superintendent Tom DeBalsi had not given them enough information to demonstrate that the renovation was the best option for the program.
Remaining problems at the school include code-deficient doors, cavernous learning spaces, a lack of handicap accessibility, cracked steps, a leaky roof, and a general lack of energy efficiency caused by old, poorly fitted windows.
The School Board also voted in May to form the Wilder School Building Committee, which will include at least three members of the public and which is charged with addressing the needs and concerns about the condition of the school. The committee is charged with developing a recommendation to the School Board by the end of the year, which would allow for a potential bond vote during Town Meeting in March.
Superintendent Tom DeBalsi said that the committee, which will include himself and School Board member Peter Merrill, has not yet rounded out its membership.
“Peter and I will meet after the new school year is underway, probably the second week of September,” DeBalsi said. “We need to identify the process for recruiting and selecting members of the study committee.”
Hartford School Board Chairman Kevin Christie, who joined Merrill in voting for the $5 million bond in January, acknowledge that the timeline would be tight to allow for a March vote, and suggested that it could extend out until November 2018.
However, he said, he and the district as a whole are fully committed to supporting the program.
“If there was no commitment, then nothing would be happening at all. There is going to be a concerted effort moving forward,” he said. “This isn’t rhetoric. It’s not political. It’s the direction that it has to take. … That particular commitment has not wavered whatsoever.”
White, who said she’s motivated in part by the fact that her great-grandmother was an administrator at the school, said the School Board needs to move faster.
“It’s entirely unsafe and it’s a discredit to the kids and teachers who go to this every day,” she said. “I really question them on whey they didn’t put the bond forward. I think there needs to be some pressure on the School Board to make a decision.”
Viens said she is satisfied with the progress the district is making toward a more permanent fix.
“I really feel like, and have been assured, that the conversation is not over,” she said. “I think having this is promising, toward something further, because I don’t think they would spend the money here (on the boiler replacement) just to close down the building. That seems positive.”
In other news, the Hartford School Board voted last week to accept the low bid on a $264,000 project to install an elevator that will provide handicap access to portions of the lower level of the Hartford Memorial Middle school. All Seasons, a Vermont contractor that has done other work for the district, beat out two other firms and came within the $275,000 budgeted for the job. Work is expected to start work soon, according to DeBalsi.
Matt Hongoltz-Hetling can be reached at mhonghet@vnews.com or 603-727-3211.