Allenstown Schools
Space Needs Committee Minutes
October 5, 2005
Ben
Fontaine called the meeting to order at
The
following members were in attendance:
Ben
Fontaine, Chairman
Capt.
Sean Mulholland, Vice Chairman
Karen
LaPlume, Secretary
Tom
Irzyk
Betsy
Cox
Al
Paradise
Dennis
Carmichael
Sandra
McKenney
Stedman
Holton
Ann
Viar
Larry
Anderson
Tom
Irzyk had followed up with the state and found that the town still qualifies
for 60% funding of school improvements. Tom also discussed how he felt this
committee would be more effective if run by members of the community in order
for them to arrive at their own conclusions and make their recommendations to
the town.
Ben
Fontaine explained that if the addition to AES is to appear on the ballot in
March 2006 the committee must apply for the bond by
Ben
Fontaine asked if everyone had a chance to review the Assessment of Educational Facility Needs for the
Mr.
Carmichael expressed his concerns, after reviewing the plan, that the recommendations
only addressed the elementary school when there appears to be a bigger space
issue at the
Betsey
Cox explained that Pre-K provides the educators the opportunity to identify
special needs children early on and minimize the need to outplace these
students; resulting in lower costs to the town. Mr. Carmichael expanded his
concern about the limited space at ARD by recognizing that the AES expansion
plan provides for added space for
special needs students but questioned what will happen to those same students
when they move up to ARD as they are placed back in a limited space situation
again.
Betsy
Cox asked the committee if they had discussed the State Minimum Standards and
the need to add Music, Art and Health within the next three (3) years in order
to comply with this standards. Tom Irzyk expanded that
with “No Child Left Behind”, if we do not make adequate yearly progress in
meeting these requirements that the state can take action against the town. Ms.
Cox also noted that the current 5th grade presents an immediate issue
in that the 3 classes should really be divided into 4 classes to effectively
teach and has noted that the 5th grade is falling behind as a result
of the oversized classes.
The
committee felt they needed more time to fully review the space recommendations
and possibly hire another company for a second opinion. Tom Irzyk reminded the
committee that the majority of the voters approved the addition the past two
years but because of the SB2, 2/3rd rule, we missed passing the
addition by 9 votes the first year and only 7 votes in 2005.
Sandra McKenney felt the committee needs to identify what the cost vs. the
benefits of not going forward with the project in 2006 (what will it cost us to
wait?) and What questions or issues does the committee have with the existing
plan?
The
committee agreed that they do not want a temporary fix (or to “place a band aid”
on the issue) but also recognizes that construction costs are rising.
A
discussion ensued about the committee working on a plan to build a new school to
replace ARD in the next few years.
Tom
Irzyk questioned if we should simply add a 2nd floor over the
Kindergarten wing just to bring 5th grade over to the elementary
school next year and the committee can work on a long range plan to eliminate
ARD and possibly build a new middle school.
Ben
Fontaine asked that the committee review the NHSSA Plan in detail and
for each member to come to the next meeting with ideas for immediate and long
term solutions that address the space needs of the Allenstown Schools.
The
committee agreed that the community needs to understand why the schools need
added space not just the monetary impacts. A suggestion was made that the community
outreach/education of this project needs to be handled similar to how the new
Police Department won the vote by hand delivering notices to every resident.
Tom Irzyk made a motion to accept the minutes from the last meeting. Sandra
McKenney seconded.
The
next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday,
October 12th at
The
meeting adjourned at