Graphic: What Could A Future Renovated Naugatuck High School Look Like?

In a proposed plan discussed at a borough meeting Monday, a new track would be built surrounding the location of the Naugatuck High School football field and a second access way would be placed at the front of the school solely for commuters.

These were just some of the ideas presented in the Naugatuck High School Feasibility Study during the Long Term School Facility Planning Committee meeting at Town Hall. The committee voted unanimously to pass the plan on to the borough’s Capital Committee, which is in charge of going over major capital or renovation projects in Naugatuck.

Kaestle Boos Associates Inc., an architectural firm often hired by the Board of Education, presented two schematics of the study, both with slight variations. David W. King, vice president of the firm, told the commission this was the first time the conceptual study has been revealed.

According to the schematics, parking at Naugatuck High School would increase by eights spaces however there would be some other parking spots sectioned off at different points around the school. A section of parking immediately in front of the high school would be eliminated allowing for a “parent drop off” second driveway. 

Meanwhile, the current driveway along the entrance would be able to accommodate up to 25 busses, King said.

Some other large changes included exchanging the spaces for the soccer, baseball and softball fields. Under the proposed plans, the new turf field would be placed where the existing softball and baseball fields are, for football and soccer purposes, while the baseball and softball fields would be relocated to where the current soccer field is. A new retaining wall would also be installed. Meanwhile, an existing practice field behind the school would be renovated, the plan detailed.

Inside the school, several rooms would receive renovations and a larger section of the current auto shop area would be reserved for the Board of Education space.

The planning commission is currently in the stages of looking over two separate renovation plans for all borough schools. Regardless, both plans call for a “renovate-to-new” plan for Naugatuck High School, which allows for a reimbursement from the state for all work done on a capital project.

According to borough officials, Naugatuck’s reimbursement rate is around 74 percent, meaning 74 percent of the money spent on a capital project at the schools would return to the borough.

The two separate plans are titled the “Neth Plan,” after Burgess Robert Neth, and the “Marenghi Plan,” after commission member Charles Marenghi. Both are conceptual, but are currently being considered by the commission as plans for the school district over the next decade. For any plan to be implemented, it would first half to get approval from the Board of Mayor and Burgesses, as well as undergo a public hearing and pass a voter referendum. 

The two plans are as follows:

The Neth Plan

• Renovate Naugatuck High School and move the Board of Education offices to the high school.
• Convert Western Elementary School to a 7-12 alternative school.
• Convert Andrew Avenue Elementary School into a town-wide pre-K school.
• Maple Hill, Hillside and Hop Brook schools would become K-4 schools
• Cross Street School would be a renovated-to-new K-4 school with proposed athletic fields as part of the Naugatuck sports group plan, with a design by the borough’s Engineering Department.
• City Hill School would receive an addition of 120,000 square feet and would become a town-wide 5-8 school.
• Prospect Street, Central Avenue and Salem schools, as well as the Tuttle Building, would be turned over to the borough. 

The Marenghi Plan

• Renovate Naugatuck High school as a state-of-the-art school with cooperative and shared facilities with local colleges.
• Renovate-to-new City Hill Middle School as a grade 7-8 facility.
• Create four educational “mini-districts” using both Salem, Hillside, Maple Hill and Hop Brook schools as well as Cross Street School. This would mean creating two separate houses divided as such: K-4 and 5-6. So there would be two K-4 and a 5-6 schools on one campus (such as Salem and Hillside schools) and two K-4 and 5-6 schools on one campus on the grounds of Cross Street School. Hop Brook and Maple Hill schools would also be reformatted with two separate campus buildings to accommodate K-4 and 5-6 facilities.
• Convert Andrew Avenue Elementary School into a town-wide pre-K school.
• Convert Western Elementary School to a 7-12 alternative school.
• Prospect Street and Central Avenue schools would be turned over to the borough.