Board of Education Gets Legal Guidelines for Elementary Schools Project

The South Windsor Board of Education got some training at a special meeting Tuesday night surrounding the project that would allow the town to overhaul its elementary schools, razing some and possibly closing one.

Matthew Ritter, an attorney from Shipman and Goodwin, spoke to the board about how and when it could advocate for the project (not with municipal funds after the referendum is set) and how other towns have succeeded in passing their school referendums.

The wording of the referendum question, in particular, could be influential in how residents vote, some board members said. 

Vice Chair Lisa Maneely said she had been on the previous referendum committee and that question asked voters to bond the full cost of the project, even though the state was slated to reimburse the town more than 40 percent of the cost.

That, Maneely said, may have impacted the vote.

Ritter said that different towns – and bond counsel – word referendum questions differently but that it would be possible for the question to specify how much money was being appropriated by the town versus the amount being bonded. 

The board also discussed the wisdom of going to referendum several times over a period of a few years to finance the project. On the one hand, the project would have to continue to pass at referendum to move forward, but putting the entire project to a vote could result in sticker shock and a third defeated schools project.

The state’s reimbursement rate for school building projects is determined based on a formula centered around a town’s wealth. South Windsor rose to 71st out of 169 towns, Ritter said, meaning the state will reimburse the town at a rate of 44 percent.

Superintendent Kate Carter said that she hopes to put forth a complete, detailed elementary schools facilities plan either the first or second week of October.

“I want to make sure that when there is a plan that it is as well thought out as possible. So if I felt doing it at the first meeting would compromise the quality of the plan, I would hold off,” Carter said.

While “there is no plan until there is a board plan,” Carter said that she is being asked by various groups about the project and she is answering candidly.

Still, she hopes to turn it around as quickly as possible.

The school board aims to hold a referendum in March. Ritter said that it could take a year or two after the referendum to get the project underway.