To Be (Ready) Or Not To Be

Al Barbarotta updated his July 17th update to Trumbull’s Board of Education on the status of the High School at Tuesday evening’s meeting.

“Safe, clean and occupiable” continue to be the watchwords.  The contractor is bringing the job to a close - though the finish line is now the end of this year.  And "ready" continues have a bit of slip in it.

Parents have been notified that the school will open on August 27 with three half days for students (full days for state attendance purpose, half days for our students).  Access for students and staff will be limited to the area around the auditorium because work continues throughout much of the building.

Students and staff will leave at noon.  Crews will work double shifts, continuing through the weekend, while the town’s Fire Marshall and Building and Health Departments perform their inspections.  

Lead and mold related work is completed.  Asbestos removal will be finished next week.  But wires are hanging and ceilings are still open, and fire alarms and other electrical work remain to be finished and inspected.  

The kitchen is done but unusable until it is inspected - necessitating making coffee at Hillcrest and trucking it over for staff meetings this week.

Parking lot paving and striping will be finished this week.  

Barbarotta said that the necessary work was “impossible to get done during the summer,” but that they “reduced the list every day.”

He projects having a temporary Certificate of Occupancy in hand and having the building ready for full operation beginning the Tuesday after Labor Day.  The final CO is anticipated by the the end of December.

He added “this will be the best it’s been in four years.”

Superintendent of Schools Ralph Iassogna told Barbarotta “We are not happy with the situation.  Last year was intolerable, but we got through it.”  He looked forward to the day when the school belongs solely to staff and students.  He concluded by thanking the Barbarottas, “we appreciate all you do.”

Board member Lisa Labella recalled last August’s hurricane, and added “we also had an abnormal situation last year... this could be just as bad.”

As an observer for little more than the last quarter of the project, this writer sees what seems a strong platform for meeting the Board of Education’s mission of providing a “21st Century Education.”  

But would that a bit more had been allocated to make the auditorium the performance hall the annual musical deserves - and perhaps to encourage other student dramatic and musical programs.  Would that the new TV studio were designed as a platform for a digital media program - film making, audio and video editing, perhaps even a student radio station.  And would that we had studio space with iMacs to afford fine and graphic arts students the opportunities many of their peers in other communities enjoy.