Change For Mill Hill Plan Approved By Fairfield School Board

FAIRFIELD, CT — Despite words of defiance regarding a more than $20 million-dollar renovation plan for Mill Hill Elementary School to serve a capacity of 441 students, the Board of Education voted Tuesday to change the project to align with funding recommended by town officials.

"As much as many of us are not happy about it, we need to go ahead and vote for the 441," Vice Chairman Nick Aysseh said.

The motion was approved, with board members Philip Dwyer, Jennifer Jacobsen and Jennifer Leeper dissenting and member Trisha Pytko not in attendance.

Fairfield school officials have long advocated that Mill Hill should be renovated with a capacity for 504 students in order to prepare for future growth. However, the town's Board of Finance voted June 4 to recommend Fairfield issue bonds to cover the cost of the 441-capacity option rather than the 504-capacity plan preferred by the school board.

"I don't think I can vote for this motion," Dwyer said before the vote. "... There ought to be a voice that says 'they made a mistake.'"

Mill Hill currently has 18 classrooms in the school building and five portable classrooms, according to school board Chairman Christine Vitale. The 441-capacity plan would eliminate portables and allow for 21 general education classrooms at Mill Hill, plus dedicated space for special education. The 504-capacity option included 24 classrooms.

The school's targeted capacity is 90 percent, according to Superintendent Toni Jones, who noted that 90 percent capacity for a 441-capacity school is 396 students. Projected 2027 enrollment for Mill Hill is 382 students, Jones stated in an email.

The 441-capacity renovation is expected to cost $21.5 million, according to Vitale, while the 504-capacity option was projected at about $22.7 million. After state reimbursement, the difference in cost between the two plans was estimated to be just over $900,000.

Mill Hill will remain open throughout the renovation and officials hope to see the work completed by 2022, Vitale said. The project has been in the school district's long-range facilities plans for several years, according to Jones.

"I think the focus right now needs to be on making sure that we give the building committee and the staff the support that they need," Vitale told the board Tuesday.

The final vote to determine the 441-capacity renovation will be June 24, when the Representative Town Meeting will decide whether to issue bonds and appropriate roughly $22 million for the project.