Dec. 22 --- A new era in school planning began in Ridgefield tonight when First Selectmen Abe Morelli and School Superintendent Ralph Wallace kicked off the new "School Site Advisory Committee." Dr. Wallace took center stage and fielded nearly three hours of questions and discussions from the new members of the committee.
Photo, left: Dr. Wallace took center stage
as he shepherded his "Advisory Committee" through their first meeting.
The Committee has been charged by the Selectmen to look at every piece of town-owned land (as well as the existing school at Notre Dame) to determine if a site or any combination of sites could be a feasible home for 1,000 students. The charter is very broad: the Old High School, the Rec Center, all of the current elementary schools, and any other piece or pieces of town land could be used to resolve the school overcrowding problem.
Photo, right: Almost every member of the committee was able to
grab a mike and ask questions; the cordiality of the meeting contrasted strikingly
with the strident tone which developed in the school referendum.
The committee consists of forty residents selected at random from a pool of about 80 volunteers. This large and apparently unwieldy number was Dr. Wallace's idea, to help communicate the school site issues across the town to as wide a population as possible. The committee will have four more formal meetings and a number of site walks and other working meetings. They expect to complete their work by the middle of February, at which time they will report back to both the Selectmen and the Board of Education.
Photo, below: Art McKenna, long-time
advocate for
greater accountibility in school spending, challenged
the team to build their plans based on the facts in the new student enrollment forecasts the Selectmen
have just arranged to have developed for the committee.
The next meeting is January 4th at Veteran's Park School; all meetings are open to the public.
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