By Linda Conner Lambeck

WESTPORT — The Board of Education is poised to spend $750,000 over the next four years on portable classrooms for its popular Stepping Stones preschool program — if the units can be delivered before the academic year starts next fall.

Confidence that the units will be delivered on time is not high, given ongoing supply-chain issues, and that has prompted school board members to press administrators to come up with a Plan B.

After mulling the issue for two consecutive board meetings, schools’ staff seem to favor a plan to rearrange the already tight space at Coleytown Elementary School, where Stepping Stones is housed, to accommodate both that growing school and the preschool until the classrooms arrive.

Modular classrooms called best option, but delivery schedule an issue

“We still believe modulars are the way to go,” Supt. of Schools Thomas Scarice told the board after a presentation of options Monday.

The options laid out for the board include splitting the preschool between two locations.

“Option C is a non-starter in my judgment,” said Elio Longo, the district’s chief financial officer.

After hearing what a detriment splitting the program in two would be to the program — it would cost upwards of $500,000 in additional staffing and tamper with the pre-school’s proven hands-on formula — the school board nixed that idea outright.

Stepping Stones serves preschoolers from across the district, many with developmental challenges, preparing them for as smooth a transition as possible to kindergarten.

At the board’s Jan. 18 meeting, Marisa Timperman, a parent and co-president of the Coleytown Elementary School PTA, described how the preschool program worked with her happy but non-verbal three-year-old, helping him learn how to communicate, and to set and meet goals, without getting frustrated.

“The transition to Coleytown was seamless,” Timperman said. Now in second grade, her son won’t stop talking, she added. “He is a complete chatterbox. He is outgoing. He is friendly. He is funny. He says hello to everybody and he is still skipping.”

Timperman urged the board to maintain the program as a single unit, either at Coleytown or another spot in the district.

At Monday’s meeting, Becky Martin, a special education PTA co-chair, urged flexible thinking.

“I am glad to see you want to see them stay together,” she said of Stepping Stones’ 75 students.

Coleytown Elementary, Stepping Stones both growing

Stepping Stones has been on the Coleytown campus for 25 years. Now, Coleytown is looking at 31 classroom sections as enrollment grows. Stepping Stones is also growing as the program takes on more typical peers to achieve a model of 50 percent special-needs students and 50 percent typical peers.

Michael Rizzo, assistant superintendent for student personnel services, said administrators of both Coleytown and Stepping Stones have been working to address growing enrollment by creatively assigning spaces, dividing classrooms, having some special area teachers use carts and, in some cases, using closets for support staff.

The district has checked other schools for sufficient space to accommodate the preschool without success. The other elementary schools are also tight on space.

The district in the long term is exploring what it needs educationally to provide a permanent and appropriate space for the preschool.

In the meantime, officials investigated leasing portable classrooms to be placed at Coleytown Elementary. The board was told it would cost about $750,000 to install two modular classrooms on the site, replacing an obsolete modular already there.

It was originally thought delivery would take 12 weeks. The plan was to slip the request into the board’s annual capital budget request to the Board of Finance.

Officials have since learned delivery could take up to 24 weeks.

Given that supply-chain issues recently put two school roof projects on hold, some board members, at their Jan. 18 meeting, said they were not confident that even the 24-week timeframe is certain.

The “squish” factor

If the portable units are delayed, Plan B calls for more Coleytown space to be repurposed until they arrive and can be installed.

Rizzo said in a memo to the board the temporary fix could be in place until January if necessary.

Board Vice Chairwoman Liz Heyer said she was reluctant to commit $750,000 toward portable classrooms without knowing exactly how tight space is at Coleytown and how it compares with other elementary schools.

“What is the squish at Coley El and how impactful is it [to programming]?” Heyer asked, wondering about the impact of Plan B.

“I think what she is saying is, should we buy the modulars or would it be so bad for Coley to have Spanish on a cart,” board Chairwoman Lee Goldstein said.

Other schools, the board was told, also have programs, such as art and music, occasionally instructed by teachers using carts.

As such, Heyer wondered why the district wasn’t also considering modulars at other elementary schools.

“A cart doesn’t mean kids aren’t getting instruction in a normal classroom setting,” said John Bayers, assistant superintendent for human resources and general administration.

The inconvenience of cart-based instruction is greatest for the teacher, he said.

The board was told the situation at Coleytown Elementary is such that at one point the principal suggested turning the main office into classroom space.

Board member Neil Phillips wondered if $750,000 is the best price the district could get for the portable classrooms, and if it might not be better to just buy the units if they can be reused down the line.

Board member Robert Harrington said the plan as presented was a no-brainer and suggested the board should watch costs, but not micromanage the administration.

“This is a clear case to move forward,” Harrington said.

Heyer said understanding the alternatives before committing to a $750,000 expense is not micromanaging.

“I need to feel good that we don’t have another option,” she said.

Jonathan Alloy, a parent, told the board that rather than focus on the price tag, it should consider what best meets the educational and physical needs of students.

The school board is expected to act on a plan for Stepping Stones when it meets on Jan. 31.