By Linda Conner Lambeck

WESTPORT — New or renovated, Long Lots Elementary School may not be completed by the fall of 2026 as anticipated, and townwide redistricting may or may not be factored into the equation.

The uncertainties left the Board of Education unable to reach immediate consensus on a commitment to equip Long Lots with two portable classrooms for the fall at its meeting earlier this week.

A decision was put off Monday to a Jan. 3 meeting. No new information is expected by then, but board Vice Chairwoman Liz Heyer said it would give her more time to consider it.

Building committee won’t commit to timeline

Asked more than once by Supt. of Schools Thomas Scarice if the project would be completed by fall of 2026, Jay Keenan, chairman of the Long Lots Building Committee, would offer no guarantees.

“I am not going there. I’m not committing,” said Keenan. His committee is retracing the steps taken by school district officials before deciding last June that the best course would be to replace the 70-year-old school.

The final decision, however, rests with the building committee, which started meeting this fall. Two consulting firms have been hired to assess the condition of Long Lots, a former junior high, and the Hyde Lane property where it sits.

Where the school would be built if the option for new construction is selected also is undecided. 

Placement of a new building is of great concern to some neighbors of the property, who worry about water run-off and an 80,000-square-foot building being built close to property lines.

Chuck Warrington, who works for Colliers Project Leaders, the district’s construction consultant, told the school board the building committee is doing its own homework on the project.

Donald O’Day, a building committee and Representative Town Meeting member from District 3, said the new reports would not only analyze the current building’s condition, but also suggest what it will take to keep the school open for five more years if a decision is made to replace the structure.

Keenan said he expects a report on the building by late January and a feasibility study for a new building in about four months. He anticipates the committee will determine which way to go forward by June so the project can get in line for potential partial reimbursement from the state.

The state’s share is expected to be so small, Keenan said, it may not be the deciding factor in whether to rebuild or replace.

Once the decision is made, the project will go before town funding bodies, perhaps more than once, and could take awhile, Keenan told the board.

Pressed on when ground might be broken, Keenan ventured 18 months from now. Construction will take another 18 months.

“From my perspective, if the committee’s process remains on schedule we can maintain optimism for a September 2026 timeline,” Scarice said.

Warrington said he is concerned about that date.

“It is going to be a tight schedule,” he said.

Paula Soto, a Long Lots parent, said she believes time is being wasted by chasing the idea of possibly renovating a school that continues to pose health and safety challenges.

Another parent asked when the committee would hold a public meeting. One is set for 7 p.m. Dec. 27, she was told.

Modular classrooms vs. redistricting

While work on Long Lots’ future continues, district officials want to install two portable classrooms on the property to handle increasing enrollment. The two-classroom modular units are part of the board’s 10-year capital spending request.

A four-year rental agreement and instillation would cost the district $600,000. The plan is to have them installed over the summer in time for the 2023-24 school year.

All three Republican school board members had questions.

Heyer wondered what impact the portables might have on construction planned on the property.

Dorie Hordon wondered if it might be wise to wait until a districtwide capacity study is complete before investing in portables in what promises to be a tight fiscal year.

Robert Harrington asked if the district isn’t sustaining its enrollment imbalance — with some schools under utilized and others running out of space — by giving Long Lots, the largest elementary school in town with just over 600 students, more classrooms instead of forging ahead with redistricting.

“The imbalance is beyond ridiculous,” said Harrington.

Board Chairwoman Lee Goldstein said she agrees redistricting is necessary.

“The question is when and how,” she said, insisting the process be holistic and systematic, not rushed.

Scarice agreed. He said redistricting would make sense once there is a new Long Lots so that it only has to occur once.

In the meantime, he said, Long Lots needs more space. He noted the principal gave up her office this year because the space was needed for instruction.

“It would relieve pressure,” Scarice said.

Hordon said waiting to redistrict might disappoint families who expect their children would attend the new school. She said she wanted a clear conversation about why temporary portable classrooms would be a better option than redistricting.

“I don’t know that [redistricting] is such a big deal if it’s an efficiency that helps with the budget and programming. It could be a good thing,” Hordon said.

Heyer asked when a decision had to be made on the portables.

Portable classrooms ordered last year for Coleytown Elementary School, following roughly the same time line, almost didn’t make it because of supply-chain issues. They weren’t ready to occupy until two weeks into this school year.

Heyer wondered how much tighter Long Lots will be next fall without the added space. During that year a better solution might be found that won’t cost taxpayers $600,000, she said.

“What we know now is that there is not enough room at Long Lots,” said Goldstein.”We need to make the decision now about the modulars.”

Goldstein said she was comfortable voting Monday to move forward. So were board members Kevin Christie and Christina Torres, but the panel opted to wait the two weeks to vote.

Brian Stern, a member of the Board of Finance who listened to the discussion, warned the school board to be prepared when a funding request for the portables comes to that panel.

“We will ask questions,” said Stern. “You should be prepared to answer them. What is the strategy, the costs? … Make sure you got your case together. I strongly recommend you have a capacity strategy in place before you come to us.”

Freelance writer Linda Conner Lambeck, a reporter for more than four decades at the Connecticut Post and other Hearst publications, is a member of the Education Writers Association.