White River Junction
Since 1996, the brick structure has housed Hartford’s Regional Alternative Program, or RAP, for up to 35 students from throughout the Upper Valley with behavioral issues. The building has fallen into disrepair, with code-deficient doors, lack of handicap accessibility, unfavorable learning environments, cracked steps, leaky roof areas and a lack of energy efficiency caused by old windows among its most pressing deficiencies.
In a presentation to the School Board, members of the Wilder School Building Committee highlighted those issues and recommended that students from the Hartford Autism Regional Program, or HARP — a 16-student program that currently is housed in a small, rented space on Palmer Court — move into the Wilder School building, once renovated, to help combine resources.
Hartford Superintendent Tom DeBalsi and School Board member Peter Merrill are liaison members of the Wilder Building Committee, which also includes Geisel School of Medicine Director of Facilities David Harris, a Wilder resident; Kristin Haney, a Windsor resident and grandmother of a current RAP student; HARP Director Jessica Poludin, and other interested parties. Since being formed nearly 1½ years ago, the committee has explored options including the closing and selling of the town-owned school while seeking another facility to house RAP and HARP. Board members eventually decided renovation was the most viable option available.
“We talked to realtors, and there is simply no property in the area that would be suitable,” Merrill said. “It would also be very difficult to find a developer to buy the property because of its square footage. Basically, we were told it’s too small for condos.”
The committee estimates a $5.2 million bond would be necessary for the renovations and recommended seeking a 20-year bond that, based on today’s enrollment and state reimbursement figures — and factoring in a modest tuition increase — would amount to annual tax increases of $5 on $50,000 of income and $1.80 on a $100,000 home.
“(Renovations are) by far the most cost-effective option,” Merrill told fellow Board members. “None of the options are particularly cheap, but given the way the new facility would be structured, it would be a very good deal for the town.”
The School Board, on a 3-2 vote in 2016, rejected a DeBalsi proposal for a $5 million bond, leading to the forming of the Wilder School Building Committee. At the crux of the issue is the perception that RAP students are not being treated fairly, compared to other students in the district, by being forced to receive education and other services in unseemly confines.
Photographs displayed during the committee’s presentation showed tiny restrooms and crumbling walls and stairs.
Haney, whose 9-year-old grandson, Jasper, is a RAP student, fought back tears while vouching for building improvements.
“Every day, we drive by Dothan Brook School, and we see how nice it looks with its playground,” Haney said. “We have no playground. We have no gym. We have no lunch room. It’s just rough. We can do better and should do better.”
Renovations also would help the Hartford Autism Regional Program settle into a more suitable home than its cramped quarters at a former copy and print shop near the Norwich town line.
Students at HARP — which provides education and clinical services for those with autism and other developmental disabilities — must walk through classrooms and offices to get to other classrooms, while an administrative assistant and nurse share a small office that also is used as a teacher’s workroom.
“The building was never designed to be a school,” Poludin said. “You have students going through the main office, and some of them have high (stimulus) sensitivities that we always have to keep in mind.”
While the RAP and HARP curricula would remain separated at the renovated Wilder School, the school nurse — who already serves both programs — would spend less time traveling between the buildings, and combining the schools’ lunch program and other services would help save money, according to the committee.
“It would allow staff from both sides to better meet the needs of students,” Merrill said. “It would be much more productive and efficient.”
During the open floor portion of the meeting, Selectwoman Michelle Boleski raised a concern that a population decline in town could lead to a vacant elementary school, and mentioned that a new Vermont law could affect how special education services are reimbursed.
Merrill replied that a population study might be valuable, but was beyond the scope of the committee. He also acknowledged that state reimbursement adjustments could affect future budgets, saying, “We had to work with what he have now.”
The general sentiment among School Board members was that of support for the Wilder School and its role fulfilling important special education services.
Kevin Christie, the School Board chairman, suggested that it’s time for action.
“We have a responsibility as a school district to make sure we give our students the best opportunities possible,” Christie said. “And that means all students.”
Jared Pendak can b e reached at 603-727-3216.
Windsor resident Kristin Haney is the grandmother of a 9-year-old student at the Wilder School. An earlier version of this story misstated Haney’s relationship to the boy.