At the Tuesday, October 10, 2023 School Board meeting, the board voted unanimously to approve the School Building Advisory Committee’s (SBAC) unanimous recommendation to contract with Harriman as the architectural design team for the school project; authorize the Superintendent and Town Manager to negotiate said contract; and for the Town Manager to sign a contract for services.  In a separate vote, the School Board also unanimously voted in favor of approving the SBAC’s unanimous recommendation to contract with CESO as the communication consultant for the school project; authorize the Superintendent and Town Manager to negotiate said contract; and for the Town Manager to sign a contract for services.  The Town Council has included both of these recommendations on their October 11 agenda and will look to make two motions to approve the SBAC’s recommendations.

Ahead of the board’s vote, during Superintendent Chris Record’s Report, the Superintendent highlighted the success of the SBAC’s progress and committee’s ongoing efforts.  “Last year, the referendum was defeated and what could have happened is that the community could have devolved; spending more time arguing and not moving forward.  I am really pleased that the Town Council and School Board chose to move forward and evolve by creating this committee,” Record said.  Estimating approximately 38 committee meetings thus far, “As a community, as a board, as a town council -- we should be proud of what we have done and I think that we are hopefully going to reach a good conclusion with the November 2024 referendum,” he added.

Record informed the board that his Education Programming Report for the elementary and middle schools would be discussed at the October 24 workshop.  The high school Education Programming Report will be discussed later in the fall.  The reports will be utilized by the architect, School Board, Town Council, and SBAC in their assessment of how the, “School buildings are functioning and how they are standing in the way of potentially providing the very best education we can for our students; how are they helping or hindering our staff?  We have great staff, but are our buildings helping them prepare our students to be successful in the world ahead?” Record asked.  “I think it’s real important through this process, that we all share the same information; what are the facts and then make choices from there,” he added.

Record also provided the board with an update on recently completed air-quality tests that were conducted after it became known that the elementary and middle school each had a classroom with poor air quality due to the presence of spores.  “I am pleased to report that the retesting of those classrooms came back with safe conditions.”  Students and staff who were originally relocated as a result of the spores, are now back in those classrooms.  Director of Facilities Director Bagdasarian and his staff, as well as hired professionals, cleaned the rooms, changed the air filter systems, and cleaned the air ducts, “We did have an issue and we addressed it,” Record said.  Record also noted that on October 18 the Building and Grounds Committee will meet with Bagdasarian to talk further about air quality, how the situation occurred, and how it might be prevented in the future.  In addition, Record said that Bagdasarian will provide an update with what has happened the last few yeas, "With potential mice in our schools; Was there an issue? How did we address it and what's happening now?"  An update on lead found last year at the middle school and elementary school will also be provided.

Lastly, Record shared that current enrollment numbers are “stable” comparing last year to this year.   Additionally, Record said that he had just received the latest enrollment forecast from NESDEC.  “All I have really read so far is that they [NESDEC] is projecting a 3.3% student population increase by 2033 – 2034.”  Once the full report has been reviewed, the Superintendent and the School Board will meet to discuss.