Submitted by Joe Montanaro
Partisan vitriol must be removed from our school building committees. It does not build schools; it only delays what our parents and children deserve. Committees need to be less about tactics and more about honesty and transparency. Common sense principles should be put above political or personal gain.
Certain appointed town officials are politically driven. They all too often put their political biases, allegiances, and friendships above the betterment of the community. In this case, the completion of a school building project.
One month ago, the BET passed the largest budget in town history (almost half a billion dollars) and some still think it is insufficient. There will always be a segment of the population who wants more spending. We cannot dictate policy based upon these individuals and groups.
Parents, by and large, want Central Middle School built for the generous $70 million the BET passed. Try telling most hard-working tax payers in this town that $70 million is not enough to build a middle school. Is that the message some on the CMS building committee and the BoE want to roll forward with? GPS Administrators speak of the “team model,” the 660-student number (200 over expert enrollment projections, see graph below) accounts for that model. The ed-specs are still around 124k sq ft though. That is a huge number for even the 660-student number. The town does not need a vacuous, supersized middle school.
The BoE dropped the ball big-time when it shoved through the flawed ed-specs last August. They held the vote when Republicans Karen Kowalski and Michael Joseph Mercanti-Anthony were on vacation. Mr. Kittle admittedly relied too heavily on the expertise of CSG in creating the ed-specs. The Chairman, Joe Kelly, abstained. BoE Democrats have refused to substantially reduce the scale and scope of the project despite Chairman Kelly’s repeated attempts to broker a “compromise”.
$70 million should be plenty to build a beautiful new school for CMS students to enjoy for years to come. We want it done sooner than later. We do not believe the project should be held up for political capital in an election year. That does a complete disservice to residents and their children.
Joe Montanaro
Greenwich Republicans
Vice-Chair