Community Invited To Weigh-In On New Central Middle School

GREENWICH, CT — The Greenwich Public Schools District has invited the community to come out and share input on educational specifications for a new Central Middle School.

The event will be held in-person only on April 5 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. inside the CMS auditorium.

While this is not a meeting on actual building design, it is a meeting to learn what elements of a building are important to the community. Items such as parking, athletic facilities, landscaping, and meeting space figure to be a few topics of discussion.

"Building a new CMS has become a high priority for Greenwich and our progress towards that remains aggressive," said Superintendent of GPS Dr. Toni Jones and CMS Principal Thomas C. Healy in an invitation to the public. "Our consultants, Construction Solutions Group (CSG), have already spoken with many of our CMS staff and will be meeting many of our community partners and elected officials next week. Now, we are looking for important input on how a new school building will support our neighbors with CSG’s Chief Operating Officer Roger LaFleur and Education Specialist Fran DiFiore."

CMS was closed for about two weeks last month after inspectors voiced concerns over structural safety. The building was fortified with scaffolding and netting, and students returned on Feb. 22.

Early last month, the Greenwich Board of Estimate and Taxation approved $1.611 million to fund temporary repairs for CMS, which included $150,000 for education specifications and an environmental analysis to confirm that a potential site for a new school can accommodate the weight of a building, along with soil testing.

The construction is part of a five-year repair plan. A new school could be online by 2026. The repairs are slated to take place over a six-week period during the summer break later this year.

During the current budget process, the Board of Education is requesting $2.5 million in the 2022-2023 budget for architecture and engineering work on a new school.