EASTHAMPTON — At the sixth and final public forum held to discuss proposed plans for a new consolidated elementary and middle school in Easthampton, the project architect laid out what that new school could offer.
Bert Gardner, with Caolo & Bieniek Associates, said at the May 1 forum that the site of the existing White Brook Middle School on Park Street is the only parcel of land owned by Easthampton large enough for a new school. Gardner said the White Brook site also offers educational opportunities for students to connect with nature by giving them access to perennial streams, vernal pools, wetlands and a large amount of open green space.
Although the White Brook site presents challenges in working with clay soil, geotechnical engineers have written specifications for projects on similar sites throughout the Valley and challenging soil can be overcome with engineering and new building technology, Gardner said.
“I’ve heard people say that the architect will say whatever he needs to say to get it built, but the liability is tremendous on what we produce,” Gardner said. “We certainly don’t go into anything just to get a project done with the risk that it might come back to haunt us.”
From a safety perspective, Gardner said a single school location would allow first responders to focus their resources in the case of an emergency and said the White Brook site has two access points for responders. In light of recent concerns about school safety, Gardner also said the proposed school was architecturally designed to slow the progress of any intruder seeking access to the building.
The proposed building would be split into classroom wings containing five classrooms each, which would attach to a shared common area containing a gymnasium, cafeteria and access to libraries on the second level. The common area could be used by the community after school hours and is easily closed off from the academic wings, Gardner said.
Among the safety features highlighted for the new building are lockable vestibules, entryway vestibules made with bulletproof glass, lockable security doors to each academic wing, shatterproof glass in classroom windows, sprinklers throughout the building for fire protection and a security system that would allow police dispatchers to see what’s happening inside the school in real time.
Gardner said each classroom is designed with an adjacent small group room to provide quiet space for special needs students fully integrated in the main student population and can be used as a space for small group lessons and other teaching needs.
School Superintendent Nancy Follansbee, who has worked in Easthampton schools for 26 years as a teacher, central office administrator and superintendent, listed antiquated mechanical systems, insufficient spaces for education, limited places for outdoor play, and overcrowding as persistent problems with the city’s elementary and middle schools. The buildings don’t meet safety standards and are not up to code, she said.
She also added that the school district loses as much as $2 million each year for students who opt to go to charter schools or schools in neighboring districts through the school choice program.
The new school addresses concerns about the existing school buildings, many of which were described in April video tours by parents, teachers and administrators.
Judy Averill, principal of Maple Elementary, taught at the school for 14 years.
“We’ve gotten a lot of use out of this elementary school,” she said.
The basement is a multi-use space, Averill said, that functions as a cafeteria/gymnasium, library, art room, music room, food prep area, teacher’s lunchroom, and gym closet, which is also used by the after-school program and the school psychologist.
“The problems that I’ve run into are specifically relating to spaces for special services. Some of them are in closets or even delivered in the hall,” said Sarah Amoroso, a parent of three children at Maple Elementary School. “It makes it more difficult for the children to learn when they can’t be in a dedicated space.”
Allison Rebello, principal of Center Pepin Elementary, said that the only access to the Center School is by stairs, meaning the school is not accessible for people with disabilities.
“We have absolutely no space left,” Rebello said. “We are using everything available to us.”
Rebello said the staff bathroom is accessed through a room used for school counseling and said there is only one bathroom for students to use at the school.
“Center, here, doesn’t have a gym or a cafeteria. The art room is here, the music room is in Pepin,” said Peter Sachs, a parent of two Pepin students. “For special classes and gym and recess, the kids have to put on all their winter gear and boots and everything and go back and forth through the weather.”
Rebello said space used for occupational therapy at Pepin is located in an elevator alcove and said there are limited electrical outlets in Center and Pepin schools.
“Outlets and using technology is often difficult in these older buildings,” Rebello said. “A new school would provide more electrical outlets and ways for things to be mounted in the classroom.”
Rebello also said there is only a single strip of grass between Center and Pepin.
“There are some concerns that I have about green space,” Kasey Corsello, a parent of two children at Center said. “There is blacktop and then there is a playground with wood chips.”
The School Building Committee listed outdated mechanical systems, inefficient and costly building shells that lead to high utility costs, limited outdoor space, overcrowding, inadequate parking, and lack of room for expansion as issues at all three existing elementary schools.
White Brook Middle School Principal Meredith Balise said the entrance to four homeroom classrooms requires that students walk through another classroom to get there, also disrupting that class to go to the bathroom or nurse’s office. The gym is “completely worn out,” Balise said from the moulding, to the floors, to the walls, to the acoustic tiles in the ceiling.
“Overall, conditions are deteriorating,” Balise said. “Paint is peeling throughout the building and the floor is disintegrating.”
Dave Dole, a fifth-grade math and science teacher, said the school was built with an open layout with no walls. Noise bounces around the non-permanent walls installed in the building, he said.
“The open design here at White Brook Middle School is very noisy and distracting,” said Sarah McGee, a parent and employee at White Brook. “Our building’s deteriorating condition is a real problem.”
The School Building Committee said that White Brook has failing building systems and poor energy efficiency, causing it to be the largest consumer of electricity in Easthampton.
At the May 1 forum, School Committee Chairwoman Cynthia Kwiecinski encouraged Easthampton residents to be as well informed about the project as possible ahead of the May 22 vote. She said that if the city votes to do nothing, costs will be worse as taxpayers will need to pay for repairs to the existing schools that won’t receive as much funding assistance from the state as a new school project would.
“If we put this new school together, we’re going to have a shot at bringing a lot of those school choice dollars back,” Kwiecinski said. “People are going to be excited about allowing their children to learn in this new facility. Your property values will go up.”
Kwiecinski said that anyone with outstanding questions about the proposal should feel welcome to email her and she will make sure those questions are answered.
A March traffic report completed by Berkshire Design Group Inc. evaluated the effects of the proposed school on traffic near 200 Park St., where the school would be built. The report found that the proposed new school would increase left turns out of the entrance, but stated that the left turn already has an “F” rating considered unacceptable by the state.
Following the report, the School Building Committee heard options to address traffic concerns. The committee considered a turn lane at Park Street or a turn lane with a traffic light, before deciding the best solution would be a roundabout and voting to include a roundabout in project bid documents.
Chairman of the School Building Committee, Thomas Brown, said the costs for the proposed roundabout would be folded into the existing project proposal and would not raise the overall cost above the $109 million figure put forth by the committee in March.
“That number is set in stone,” Brown said at a School Building Committee meeting in late April. “That’s what we promised the public.”
Some residents have expressed doubt that a roundabout would ease traffic. Howard Haberman, who spoke at the May 1 public forum, said a roundabout would create more congestion as people would try to sneak into it, rather than being forced to wait for a light to change.
Gardner said the committee selected a roundabout because it wouldn’t create additional challenges with stacking traffic on South Street and it would slow traffic going by the school, control traffic going in and out of the school and increase safety for pedestrians accessing the school.
According to the School Building Committee, the proposed consolidated school project is “the best approach to meet the educational needs of the community and represents the best long-term value for the City of Easthampton.”
M.J. Tidwell can be reached at mjtidwell@gazettenet.com.