Ridgefield News
October 26, 2000

First Selectman Commentary

Planning for Our Future

By Rudy Marconi

As we approach our December referendum, I am making an effort to reach all Ridgefielders so that everyone understands what it is your elected officials are asking you to vote on.

The Bundling Project, which everyone is talking about, is really a very simple plan. In short, it addresses all our needs for our educational facilities for approximately the next 15 years. In addition, it gives Ridgefielders a much-needed senior center and a new and expanded recreation facility.

The entire package will cost a gross amount of $90 million dollars, but Ridgefield taxpayers will be responsible for only $74 million due to state contribution. In addition, our senior center comes from a generous but anonymous donor and will be of no cost to the town.

This long-term plan of renovation and construction will take place over the next five years. I urge you to take the time to understand the project that will protect the future of Ridgefield.

What is the Bundling Project?
A better name for this would be the System wide School Initiative for Ridgefield. That really describes the purpose and the goal of this effort. Ridgefield schools are among the finest in the state, perhaps among the finest in the nation. And yet our schools are facing a crisis on two key fronts: overcrowding and aging facilities.

• Overcrowding -- Today our schools are bursting at the seams. In almost every case, our schools and classrooms have reached their capacity. Portable classroom additions have become commonplace. And yet the increases in student enrollment have only just begun. In a few short years there will literally be no place to put our students. The process is already underway to provide Ridgefield with an additional middle school. We must act now to address the overcrowding in our elementary schools and our high school as well.

• Aging Facilities – Over time, even the best-built homes require repairs and upgrades once in a while. The same is true of our schools. For example, East Ridge Middle School was built in 1969. Other than roofing and basic maintenance, no money has been spent on repairs for East Ridge in 30 years. The longer we wait, the more expensive these problems may become.

The purpose of the System wide School Initiative is to deal with the overcrowding in the elementary schools, the overcrowding at the high school and the needed repairs at the middle school as one issue: ensuring that the Ridgefield School System meets the needs of our students. That goal cannot be met by tackling these issues one at a time.

Why Take This Approach?>
There are some people who feel that it's just too much to ask voters to approve several items all at once. We can't just look at one or two projects because each project affects the others. Think of it is this way. You can't cross a river by building half a bridge. More importantly, the Board of Education has already approved these educational specifications and by state statutes the Board of Selectman is legally required to address and present a solution to the needs of the Board of Education. If we don't put together a whole package—a system wide school initiative then we are just going to have to take each of these things to referendum at a cost of $15,000 per referendum. Why spend as much as $100,000 on additional referenda when we can spend $15,000.

Has Anyone Ever Done This?
The challenges being faced by our school system are by no means unique to Ridgefield. Throughout Fairfield County our neighboring towns and communities have already begun their own System wide School Initiatives in order to address overcrowding and aging facilities.

• Darien -- Spending $100 million to build a new high school and renovate their middle school
• Westport -- Spending $150 million to build a new middle school, additions and renovations to their elementary schools and a major renovation to their high school
• Fairfield -- Spending $99 to $150 million to eliminate 25 portable classrooms in use at 10 elementary schools, 3 middle schools and 1 high school
• New Canaan -- Spending $64.8 million to renovate and expand the middle school, expand 3 elementary schools and renovation to their the high school

In completing these school projects, there are two important bonuses for the people of Ridgefield. Because the town would be utilizing the Barlow Mountain site for the new elementary school, we can relocate the new recreation facility close to down town Ridgefield on the Ippoliti property. The senior center will also go there. We end up providing something for all Ridgefielders.

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