Opponents fail to sway selectmen on magnet school referendum

More than 70 residents packed the Windham Town Hall meeting room Tuesday to speak for and against the proposed $40 million Windham Interdistrict Magnet School.

Although selectmen were not hosting an official public hearing on the proposal, residents spoke for two hours on the plan during the public comment portion of the meeting.

The proposal is to build a $40 million, environmental and cultural theme magnet school on a 20-acre parcel off Tuckie Road near Carriage Lane in the area of Old Mansfield Road and George Street.

The parcel is owned by Homesite LLC and is available for $238,000 – $11,900 per acre.

In 2006, Windham taxpayers voted to fund 5 percent – or $2 million – of the total cost, while the remaining $38 million would be funded by the state.

While selectmen voted to authorize Windham First Selectman Jean de Smet to sign the purchase and sale agreement for the Tuckie Road site, residents weighed in first.

Those speaking Tuesday were generally in favor of the proposal, though critics also expressed concerns.

Willimantic resident Peter Leeds urged selectmen to support the proposal and said education officials did their due diligence and studied numerous sites.

“I didn’t realize it’s a gated community,” Leeds said sarcastically, aiming his comments to those on Carriage Lane who claimed the project would disrupt their road.

“This is a school that the town can be proud of,” Leeds said, adding if Windham doesn’t take advantage of the state funding, “the school will be built somewhere else.”

“This will be a very great benefit for our town,” he added.

Jeff Smith, a board of finance member, said at 67, he was not likely to send any children to the school, but Windham needs it to help change perceptions other people have of the town.

Smith also said if Windham turned down state funding to build the school, “don’t go with your hand out (to the state) again.”

Former Windham first selectman Michael Paulhus said he supported the proposal years ago and said he was “disappointed” with the comments about the project.

Paulhus said he didn’t want to hear the town was “too poor” to have a magnet school and, if that was the case, Windham would never build or do anything.
“I think this brings hope,” he said, adding he wanted to get a “shovel in the ground” and get the school built.

Still, the proposal had critics, and one Willimantic resident collected more than 435 signatures asking for a re-vote of the 2006 referendum approving the project.

John French, who spearheaded the petition drive along with Tuckie Road resident Toni Fantoli, expressed concern the magnet school would cost the town money in the long run.

He compared the magnet school vote in 2006 to asking people if they wanted a “Ferrari.”

French said the car sounds good, but after gas, insurance and maintenance, it becomes expensive and is “not really a good deal.”

He said if the state had to back down from its 95 percent reimbursement rate due to smaller, out-of-town enrollment figures, the town would be on the hook for $8,428,000 if the rate is scaled back to, say, 75 percent.

French said only 16 percent of Windham’s elementary school students would be able to attend the school, which meant 84 percent “outside the fence looking in.”
Lori Jeffers, Windham Republican Town Committee chairman, said she believed the school would cost the town money down the road, with salaries, benefits, insurance, library books, equipment and transportation costs.

“The state of Connecticut has no money,” Jeffers said. “We have no money.”
She also touched on the site.

“You’re out of locations,” she said, adding people on Tuckie Road have complained about traffic before and now officials were going to “flood buses” on the road.

“The economy has tanked since we voted on the magnet school,” Jeffers said, adding she wanted a revote.

William Baldasty, a Carriage Lane resident, expressed concerns over traffic safety.

“If one child dies, is it worth the cost of the magnet school?” Baldasty said, adding if he wanted to live near a school, he would have looked at property in town by a school.

But, he said, officials want to build a school and take away the cul-de sac. “You’ve already ruined my life,” he said, adding “let’s not kill any children.”

Thomas White, former board of finance member, cautioned selectmen regarding state funding and said people were “relying on the state too much.” “I don’t trust the state of Connecticut,” he said.

White also said when he grew up on Tuckie Road, he used to ride bikes, but now, it’s too dangerous.

“This is not the right place,” he said, adding he would like to see a revote to ask if people want it on Tuckie Road.

William Rood, former selectman, said information about the magnet school proposal has changed since the 2006 vote.

“This is not working folks,” Rood said, adding he didn’t want another Windham Mills “fiasco” when the town chipped in millions for the project but the state didn’t follow through on its fiscal obligations.

“We’ve been a laughing stock too many times,” he said.

Rood cautioned the board and said the school would not change the town and officials would not get the necessary 25 percent of pupils from sending towns because other towns don’t “trust” Windham.

Still, Mark Phelps, a building committee member, said the best endorsement of the project was given by the people collecting petitions.

“They admit this is going to be a better school,” Phelps said, of some critics of the proposal.

“This is an opportunity that we cannot turn down,” he said, adding many people didn’t care about the issue until they found out it was near their property.

Barbara McGrath, board of finance chairman and capital improvement committee member, offered her help in overseeing the project and said she would work with all parties involved.

“Let’s work together,” McGrath said, “And invest in the future of Windham.”