Glastonbury School Board to Stay at Hebron Ave. Offices

The board of education will stay in their Hebron Ave. offices for the foreseeable future, after they decided earlier in August to renew the lease on their current building through 2021.

The Town Council and Board of Education initially hoped to move the school board offices to the town hall complex, creating one grand municipal center. But the proposal was continually postponed because the council couldn’t agree on whether leasing or building a new facility was the better option, Superintendent of Schools Alan Bookman said.

Bookman said that he and real estate broker Bob Botters had searched the town for a new location to no avail. Ultimately the board and council decided to extend the lease at 626 and 628 Hebron Ave. The new lease will add 2,620 square feet of office space so that the school system can expand its alternative education program to middle school students and children in upper elementary classes, Bookman said.

The superintendent said he expects to add 12 new students to the program, saving approximately $600,000 in outplacement costs--$50,000 per child.

Under the terms of the new lease, the board will pay $388,693 in rent in 2013, which will increase to $424,290 by the time the lease expires in 2021.