Town Officials Tour Adams-Cheshire Schools
CHESHIRE, Mass. — Last week offered an opportunity for residents to tour the two elementary schools in the Adams-Cheshire Regional School District.
With the district pondering the likelihood of closing one of the schools, their condition, size and maintenance costs are expected to influence the debate. The guided tours also provided a chance for administrators to lay out the class configurations that will be part of the conversation.
Members of the Adams and Cheshire select boards, finance committees, and the School Committee privately went through Cheshire Elementary School, C.T. Plunkett School and Hoosac Valley High School last weekend. Plunkett has just over 400 children; Cheshire more than 200.
Cheshire School was built in the 1920s and later added onto. The classrooms in the original section are generally 700 square feet and if Plunkett were to close, it would house the second and third grades.
The handicapped lift that provides access to the that section is broken and beyond repair and must be replaced at an anticipated cost of $65,000.
The basement of the original building would continue to hold art and music. Superintendent Robert Putnam said because the gym is not handicapped accessible, the basement area would also be used for physical education classes if a student in the class has mobility concerns.
The old section of the building has three half-baths and two full bathrooms in the basement.
The 1960s portion of the building would house offices and specialty classrooms along the front. Putnam added that the cafeteria is large enough to fit the space needs of increased enrollment.
There are four bathrooms in this section.
The newly renovated technology lab is also in this wing and Putnam said if the prekindergarten ends up being housed in Cheshire, it will be turned into two first-grade classrooms. Also, if the prekindergarten is in the school, the library would be placed on the auditorium stage and the space turned into a classroom.
Putnam said they are trying to keep all construction costs to a minimum and only place temporary walls where needed.
"The idea is if we need to make two classrooms temporary walls let us do that instead of having to tear something down," he said. "If we can move it somewhere else or put up dividing walls that would be better than taking things apart and trying to retrofit a room into a classroom."
He said this would also be the case for central office that will need to be relocated.
Putnam said he has been looking at options but was told by Town Administrator Tony Mazzucco that there is room on the bottom floor of Town Hall that used to be used for community development. He said it is suitable for six to eight people and has storage space.
The west wing hall along the side of the building would house pre-K and kindergarten or kindergarten and first grade. Putnam said these rooms are larger at 900 square feet.
"They were designed in a time where classrooms were being built with more space," Putnam said. "Back in 1922, I think the concept was you could pack kids in like sardines."
Adams Finance Committee member Paul Demastrie said he wished the classrooms were more consistent.
"I wish all the rooms were equally nice and had this kind of natural lighting," he said. "It appears as though these are the best rooms."
Putnam said depending on the configuration, there may not be room for the separate Rhythm Rhyme Nursery School.
Principal Peter Bachli said the roof in the older section of the building is a membrane roof that was installed in the 1990s and has lived past its lifetime.
The cost to replace it is estimated to cost between $600,000 and $700,000.
The older section of the building has a metal roof with pitched sections that has held up well and Bachli suggested doing the new section the same way.
At Plunkett, Principal Michele Colvin said school receives extra grant-funded services such as free lunch, free breakfast and Title 1 support. It is also seeking funds for a school dentists and a mental health provider.
Putnam said all district schools qualify for these programs but some of them were designated to Plunkett because it is the needier school. He said these services would travel to whichever building is the elementary school.
The addition to the school was built in the 1990s. The entire building was renovated at the same time and class sizes are between 900 and 1,000 square feet.
Colvin said the first floor would house kindergarten and pre-K, if there is a pre-K. She said mostly every classroom on this floor has an attached bathroom.
Unlike Cheshire, there would be room on the first floor for Rhythm Rhyme.
Physical therapy, speech therapy and other services would be on the first floor because the younger children are the ones who use these services the most.
"One thing we tried to do in this plan is not only see if everything will fit but if it would function because our youngest students are the ones who need these services," Colvin said. "We wanted everything on the same floor."
Colvin said the cafeteria sits 80 to 100 kids comfortably and it could be extended into another room to make more space.
The gym on the second-floor leaks.
"Yesterday we had about 20 buckets around the gym mainly on the side where the boards are leaks," Colvin said. "That said it is a beautiful space it is more than an adequate space and it gets a lot of use from the community."
The auditorium needs a handicapped-lift replacement that is estimated to cost $35,000. Colvin added that the auditorium sits 600 people, which is more than the high school.
"This is a tremendous space," she said. "The architecture is beautiful and the chairs are original to the school."
Colvin said there are heating issues in the area and there is a hole above center stage that was recently covered.
"This is the place where kids stand on the stage and say they can see heaven," Colvin said. "There was a hole in the roof and if you stood center stage and look up you could see it."
An area outside of the auditorium is not used by the student body; the area leaks, plaster is falling from the ceiling and it is cold.
Classrooms on that floor is where first grade would be and other support services. Like the other classrooms, they all have a sink, water fountains and most rooms connect.
The third floor would hold second and third grade. The idea is that if a school closes, Grades 4 and 5 would moved to the middle school at Hoosac.
Colvin said the main issue on the third floor is the heat.
"When the summer hits it is hot and not a little hot a lot hot," Colvin said. "The average temperature up here on a sunny day can hit 86 degrees."
The roof does leak in sections because the flat membrane roof has to be replaced. The roof over the boiler room also is in dire straits.
The town of Adams agreed to fund replacement of the boiler room roof that should take place this summer, and support beams have been erected to shore up the ceiling so it won't collapse.
Putnam said the room has not been tested for mold, but there is no lead or asbestos. The boiler system is less than 10 years old.
While the community toured the elementary schools, town officials also walked through Hoosac Valley's middle school section, which is in the front right corner of the of the building. Principal Jeremiah Ames said the section would house fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh grades. The eighth grade would be moved to the high school section.
Ames said many of the rooms are connected and some are not used to their full potential. He said one room is used by the adjustment counselor but it is a full classroom, much larger than what the counselor actually needs.
"Just because we have the space right now we are trying to use it even if the use isn't utilizing the rooms full potential," Ames said. "All of these classrooms are large by any district's standards ... we have more than enough space and we want to put kids in these rooms."
Putnam said all classrooms are well equipped with smart boards He said more students would be able to take advantage of the technology.
Ames said some classrooms are just used for storage or breakout space. This includes smaller rooms, some that are equipped with hoods for science prep, that could be converted into offices or one-on-one spaces. The middle school doesn't really need labs but one classroom could be maintained for that use.
The middle school section is separate from the high school, with its own entrance, and Ames said physical barriers and doors can be used to further segregate the schools.
The group then moved to a section in the back of the high school that could be used for pre-K if it is moved to the high school.
Ames said the room has class space, its own bathroom and a separate kitchen with barriers.
"It has plenty of space and it is designed for early childhood development," Ames said. "It has significant barriers and there is a bathroom and a small office. It is pretty much ideal."
One option has been to send the kindergarten and prekindergarten to the high school as an early childhood center. Ames said pre-K could spill into the CAD/robotics room that isn't being used because it has a rubberized floor that may be better for the youngsters.
Before ending the tour, Putnam reiterated that whatever configuration the School Committee chooses is not written in stone. There's still the possibility in the future of renovating an elementary school or build new on the Hoosac Valley Campus
"What we do next year isn't necessarily where we are going to be in the next five years, so we say to ourselves we have to make a decision for the near future but for the long term all of these things are possibilities," Putnam said.
Corrections: An earlier version was incorrect on enrollment, the condition of a roof and the status of asbestos in Cheshire. Those sentences have been corrected or removed.
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