Seven weeks before the municipal election, Wethersfield’s roughly 19,500 registered voters will get their chance to decide if the town puts up $88 million to extensively renovate two older elementary schools and replace a third one.
With educators saying current conditions at the schools are deteriorating, Republican and Democratic members of the town council voted together in June to put the question to voters at a special referendum Sept. 16.
Advocates are staging an extensive “get out the vote” campaign this month, hoping to persuade residents to approve what they view as a great bargain because the state government has agreed to kick in $151 million — more than 70% of the overall cost of $239 million.
A few opponents have attended town council meetings this summer to speak against the plan, arguing that it’s too expensive — and that it will have to be followed by more spending in just a few years to upgrade the two remaining elementary schools.
In the past couple of weeks, purple “vote yes” signs have been appearing on lawns in all sections of town as proponents look to build support. They’ve formed a political action committee called WIN IT: Wethersfield Invests Now In Tomorrow, and are posting updates regularly on Facebook community pages to advise residents about the vote.
The Charles Wright Elementary School, one of two Wethersfield schools planned for extensive renovations if voters approve the plan Sept. 16. A third elementary would be replaced altogether. (Don Stacom/The Hartford Courant)
The organization contends that the teachers, principals and students agree the three schools involved badly need modernizing. All were built between the early ’60s and early ’70s, and were designed for an era before classroom computers.
Consultants have reported Wethersfield would need to spend about $60 million over the next few years just to keep those buildings functioning, and even that would address only outdated roofs and mechanical systems. The plan going before voters would thoroughly rebuild two schools — Samuel Webb and Charles Wright — to modern standards, and entirely replace Hillcrest.
The WIN IT group acknowledged that voters three years ago rejected a $278 million elementary school referendum, but said there are important differences this time. The 2022 plan closed Charles Wright; the new one keeps all five schools open.
“Everyone involved is dedicated to equitable access to high-quality education across the entire town. Consistency in class-sizes, square feet per student, and access to resources are of the upmost priority,” it said in an online brochure about the new project.
Also, the town’s delegation to the General Assembly announced in June that it had secured a far higher state reimbursement rate than usual. So the state is agreeing to cover $151 million of the $239 million price, leaving Wethersfield to fund $88 million. Three years ago, state aid amounted to only $110 of the $278 million cost, so local taxes would have been responsible for making up the remaining $168 million.
Opponents note that the 2022 plan addressed all five elementary schools; the new one makes no improvements at the Emerson-Williams and Hanmer schools. Instead, the school board envisions another referendum several years from now on renovations for both of them.
Town officials have put out a detailed fact sheet and have said the current plan is Wethersfield’s best opportunity to resolve long-standing deficiencies at its elementary schools while paying a relatively small share of the cost.
Wethersfield has roughly 19,000 registered voters, and turnout in the November election was just under 82%.
