Town Officials, Many Residents Pleased With Passing of High School Consolidation Referendum

Nearly two-thirds of Enfield residents who voted in Tuesday's election approved the referendum question concerning the consolidation of Fermi and Enfield high schools.

Unofficial vote counts saw the proposal pass by a margin of 9,715 votes in favor to 5,530 opposed.

The "renovate as new" project will be done at the Enfield High School location on Route 5. Groundbreaking is expected at the conclusion of the 2013-14 school year, and the facility is expected to open in Sept. 2017, according to Mayor Scott Kaupin.

"I am very grateful for the support of the public; a referendum winning by a 2-to-1 margin in Enfield is very rare," Kaupin said. "I think Enfield is ready for one high school, and I think the voters could see the merit of being in the high school together, and having a high school we can all be proud of that will serve our needs for many years."

Kaupin said the Town Council will be forming a building committee consisting of residents to work with town and school staff. Architectural work will take about a year or so prior to the groundbreaking, he said.

The cost of the project is estimated at $103 million, with almost 72 percent to be reimbursed by the state of Connecticut under the "renovate as new" plan. The town's share of the cost will be around $35 million, which will be bonded at about $1.5 million a year for 20 years. That money will come from the anticipated savings of consolidating the two schools.

Had the voters rejected the plan, the cost to taxpayers to perform mandatory ADA-compliance, code upgrades and new curriculum standards would have exceeded $50 million, none of which would have reimbursed.

Enfield's Future, a political action committee, was credited for informing residents of the benefits of consolidation.

"The Enfield's Future PAC worked hard to get the facts out to our residents," committee member Jennifer Marone said. "We couldn't have made it to this point, without all the wonderful support we received. I look forward to seeing what this new chapter brings to our children. Thank you to our families who stood behind us as well. Enfield's Future is going to shine!"

Gina Sullivan, another committee member, said, "I am very happy about the win, and I am very excited for our town. We are heading in a wonderful direction for our children's future."

"I'm very excited and very proud of this town that they were able to see the potential of voting this through for the future of the children and this town," said Randy Daigle, chairman of the Pre-Referendum High School Consolidation Committee. "This will make us compete with all the magnet schools in the vicinity, and these kids are going to get a 21st-century state-of-the-art education."

Board of Education Chairman Tim Neville said, "I feel really good that the public supported it. It's a huge benefit to the community. If all goes well, we're looking at Sept. 2017 to have a wonderful school for our kids to learn in."