By Linda Conner Lambeck
WESTPORT–Hoping to get ahead of any supply chain issues, the school board has given the Long Lots School Building Committee permission to pre-purchase a generator and switchgear equipment a good 17 months before they will be needed in construction of the new school.
The unanimous approval, with six board members in attendance, came last week during the board’s first meeting of the 2025-26 school year.
Tight schedule
“Delays worry us,” Jay Keenan, chair of the building committee and District 2 Representative Town Meeting member, told the school board, which met in the Staples High School cafeteria.
Keenan told the board that several other building projects around the state have experienced delays in getting such rooftop equipment which provide essential backup power for the new school.
Ordering now, just as the project is beginning, will hopefully avoid messing with what he called a tight schedule to get a new Long Lots and Stepping Stones Preschool built and ready to open in the fall of 2027.
The schedule has construction completed in July 2027, giving the district a month to move into the new schools.
Keenan said he is “pretty confident” the school can be finished on time. He said the committee may be back to the board a few more times as approvals are needed.
Phase one
This summer, with town approvals in hand, the school building project received a project number from the state and state approval to go out to bid for Phase one of the project. That will involve site work, fencing, placement of trailers, temporary power and the drilling of about 100 geothermal wells.
The plan is to start the work by the end of September.
“After more than two years of planning we are ready for shovels to get into the ground,” said Donald O’Day, a building committee member and District 3 RTM Member.
Fences will go up first. In addition, a construction road will be built apart from driveways leading to the existing Long Lots, which will remain open on the same Hyde Lane property during construction.
Board Vice Chair Dorie Hordon asked how loud the construction will be.
Drills do make noise, Keenan conceded but said the plan is for trucks, as much as possible, not to enter the site until school starts in the morning and leave before school is dismissed at 3 p.m. so as not to interfere with parent drop off and pick ups.
The town is also dedicating a police officer to the school full-time to assist in traffic control.
Schools Superintendent Thomas Scarice said Newfield Construction, the general contractor for the project, plans to give regular updates to Long Lots staff and keep the lines of communication open.
Board Member Robert Harrington said he could not be more excited about the project.
“There has been lots of division in the community (particularly over the displacement of a community garden on the site). Most people have moved on. Everyone needs to move on,” Harrington said.
Harrington said he has seen continued, ongoing commentary on social media platforms about project transparency that he called unfair.
“(It) needs to stop,” said Harrington, adding that the project could not be in greater hands. Other board members agreed.
Gifts
In other action, the board accepted several gifts. They include:
● $34,096 from Staples booster clubs to support nine assistant coaching stipends for fall sports. Eight of the stipends are for football and one for girls volleyball.
● $7,065 from the SHS Mat Men towards the purchase of mats for the Staples wrestling program, a booster club for the wrestling team. The mats cost $22,065 and the district bore $15,000 of the costs.
● Several donations towards the new and already installed Coleytown Middle School auditorium sound system. The district budgeted $60,000 toward the project. The lowest of three bids came in at $77,852.53. Coleytown Company, which runs the school’s theater arts program contributed $5,000 toward the project and the Coleytown PTA ended up chipping in $12,852.53.
● $4,153 worth of several jazz instruments from bassist and composer Billy Stark.
Artificial Intelligence survey
Having participated in a pilot program on using Artificial Intelligence in the classroom for the state, the district has now been asked to survey the Bedford Middle and Staples High students who participated.
The 15-minute, on-line survey asks students how they used AI, if it helped them successfully complete assignments, if they could tell when an AI response was incorrect or misleading and if they would like to continue using AI tools for school work.
If approved by the board at its Sept. 4 meeting, the survey would be given the week of September 22. Parents will also have the ability to opt their child out of the survey.
Board Member Abby Tolan asked if the survey will help the district or the state.
Natalie Carrignan, the district’s director of technology, said the state is using the survey to report out to the legislature on the pilot program. It won’t help determine which AI program works best as the six participating districts did not use the same AI tools and the student responses will be reported out collectively.
Anna Mahon, the district’s new assistant superintendent for teaching and learning, said the district has already gotten feedback from teachers on the $100,000 pilot and is working on making AI part of the district’s strategic plan.
Ending in the black
The numbers are not yet audited, but the district appears headed for an overall operating budget surplus of $426,077 for the just-ended 2024-25 fiscal year, according to Elio Longo, the district’s chief financial officer. About $172,000 of that the district will keep in a district reserve to be used towards portable classrooms at Long Lots. The rest goes back to the town.
Summer projects
The Board was also told that over the summer, the facilities department worked on 116 projects totaling $2.8 million across the district’s eight school buildings. The work included bleacher inspections, tree stump removals, septic tank cleaning, interior painting, fire alarm inspections, kitchen hood degreasing, courtyard repairs and more.
“I want the public to know that as a junior rep on the Board, I will work to make sure student voices at Staples are not only heard but also considered in the decisions made for our school,” Olasewere said. “I also want students to feel comfortable sharing their ideas and concerns with the Board.”
Westport Journal’s recent school coverage
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- Redistricting, AI, cellphone ban: Westport schools face big changes
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- Fed cuts won’t impact Westport schools
Linda Conner Lambeck
Linda Conner Lambeck covers education for Westport Journal. She was a reporter for more than four decades at the Connecticut Post and other Hearst publications. She has covered education throughout Fairfield and New Haven counties. She is a proud member of the Education Writers Association.
“Everyone needs to move on.” This is what we do in Westport. We ignore the root cause of why things become so divisive and go along our merry way. Until the next issue comes along…….Soccer coaches, Parker Harding, Community Gardens, The Hamlet, etc. There is a common thread here…..long serving volunteers who are unable or unwilling to carry out the most basic oversight of elected and appointed officials. Go along to get along.
The town needs a serious change in its government structure. Changing people is not the answer…
It’s a shame, because Mr Harrington has built a brand on being principled and authentic. But between this and his endorsement of Don O’Day, he seems to be neither. Just another partisan politician – ironic, because he was dumped by his own party for speaking his mind. He was a sure thing for reelection, and was kicked to the curb by the local GOP. Too bad he didn’t petition to get on the ballot, like some others, as our general election has the potential to be an interesting free-for-all, and he would have had a lot of support.
Move on? Very disappointing. At least two complaints are pending at the Freedom of Information Commission over the Long Lots Building Committee’s handling of financial information, and the lack of transparency and disclosures on a $100+ million tax increase. We still have not had full disclosure on those financials.
Oh, and we still do not have a community garden.