POMFRET — The Windsor Central Supervisory Union superintendent has recommended that the Prosper Valley School, which has been closed since last year due to mold, be reopened as soon as next fall for use as pre-K classrooms and administrative offices once the problem is resolved.
But some in Pomfret, where Prosper Valley first opened as the Pomfret School in 1991, say that Superintendent Mary Beth Banios’ plan flies in the face of their understanding of commitments made to keep schools open in the first four years of consolidation under Act 46.
And remediating the mold problem is expected to cost more than $500,000.
Prosper Valley, which served students in grades K-6 from both Pomfret and Bridgewater from 2015 didn’t open for students in August 2018 after mold was found in several classrooms.
It is part of the Windsor Central Modified Unified Union School District, which came into being in July 2018, and — in addition to those two towns — includes Woodstock, Killington, Barnard, Plymouth and Reading.
“This model allows (Prosper Valley) to address some important needs in the district and also positions the district to take advantage of some promising opportunities that can result in revenue growth and program enhancements,” Banios said in a Sept. 20 memo to the district board.
In addition to moving the pre-K, and possibly kindergarten students as well, from Woodstock Elementary School to Prosper Valley, Banios said in the memo that administrative offices could house the Essential Early Education program; speech, language and occupational therapy; and early childhood director, according to the memo.
Other space at Prosper Valley could be used for adult learning classrooms, and the outdoor space could continue to be available for all students, Banios said.
In crafting her proposal, Banios said she weighed educational benefits for students, budget implications, the effect on the community, alignment with the district’s strategic plan and capacity issues at Woodstock Elementary, where approximately 60 Prosper Valley students have been attending classes since last year.
In Pomfret, Banios’ proposal sounded, at least to some, like the end of an era.
“In my mind, this proposal is closure of this school,” said Patti Kuzmickas, a Pomfret representative to the district board who has a daughter now attending Woodstock Elementary as a result of the mold issue.
Given that enrollment at Prosper Valley has been dwindling, Kuzmickas said re-establishing a full K-6 school there may no longer be in the cards.
“I don’t think reopening it as it was is realistic,” she said.
She also acknowledged that following the superintendent’s plan would mean some students would still attend school at the Prosper Valley building.
But she said the school hasn’t had a pre-K program before, and the school and its outdoor resources, which include hiking trails and a sugar house, would be better suited to older students such as those in fourth, fifth and sixth grades.
Hosting older elementary school students there would “Meet a lot of the needs of the district (and) make the best use of that campus,” Kuzmickas said.
Woodstock Elementary, which sits in the center of Woodstock Village, has a different feeling than Prosper Valley, which sits just six minutes away, she said.
“It’s almost like a city school and a rural school,” she said. “… Keeping them unique is an asset.”
The board discussed the superintendent’s proposal at its meeting on Monday, Kuzmickas said. The plan will now go back to a school configuration committee, which reviewed the proposal last week, before it comes back to the board for a vote.
The board on Monday night also discussed how to manage the mold issue at Prosper Valley. A full remediation, including fixing failed exterior drains, removing floor coverings, sealing the concrete slab with epoxy and installing new flooring; removing and replacing wallboard; installing a dehumidification system, cleaning and ongoing humidity monitoring, will cost roughly $550,000, according to a memo by Joe Rigoli, the district’s manager of buildings and grounds, that was provided to the board earlier this month.
A smaller project that would simply include removing flooring, cabinetry and wallboards, installing the dehumidification system, and continuing to monitor humidity would cost $130,000. That would partially address the issue, but wouldn’t be enough to reopen the building, according to Rigoli’s memo.
Banios, in her Sept. 20 memo, recommended funding the full remediation with a bond “to reduce the impact of the costs to taxpayers in a given year” with a bond vote to be set for March and the goal being to reopen Prosper Valley next fall.
At this point, the board is seeking information from the district’s finance manager about how much money might be in the current year’s budget for the purpose, Paige Hiller, the board’s chairwoman, said in a Tuesday phone interview.
Board members are looking to understand if they take money out of the existing budget, “what does that then sacrifice?” Hiller said.
The board’s next meeting is scheduled for Oct. 14 at 6 p.m. in the Woodstock Union High School & Middle School library.
Nora Doyle-Burr can be reached at ndoyleburr@vnews.com or 603-727-3213.
Correction
The Windsor Central Supervisory Unio n superintendent has recommended that the Prosper Valley School, which has been closed due to mold, be reopened for use as a pre-K program, including pre-K classrooms and administration. Headlines on a story in Thursday’s Valley News incorrectly described the potential new uses for the building.
