Submitted by Jennifer Favalora, Vice Chair, RSD 17, Board of Education
(June 2, 2023) — Over the next ten years, the Haddam and Killingworth community schools of Regional School District 17 will need major repairs/renovations/or rebuilds. It is estimated that more than $100 million is needed to improve them from fair or poor to “good” condition, not including updates to learning spaces.
The question is not, should we invest tens of millions of dollars, the question is how and to have what after the investment? At this point, the school buildings are in dire need of infrastructure updates to improve quality, efficiency, learning, security and health.
The Board of Education has begun work to create a Master Capital Plan for the future of RSD 17’s school buildings to present at referendum; to ask the community to support a significant, long-term investment in our schools. The referendum is expected to be held in the first quarter of the calendar year 2024.
Between now and then the District is SEEKING YOUR OPINION through four community conversations and a community wide survey.
Before any options are developed for our school buildings, or any decisions are made, RSD17 is asking community members to complete a short survey in order to gather community input. If you have already completed it, thank you! If not, please complete this survey by Friday, June 19, 2023.
If you missed the first Community Conversation, you can access the recorded meeting on HKTV Live and/or view the meeting presentation. Additionally, there will be several opportunities to participate in the process on:
* June 28, 2023 6:00 p.m. – Location: Virtual, Link to join will be shared on the RSD17 website
* September 13, 2023 4:30 p.m. -Open House Tour of Haddam-Killingworth High School
* September 13, 2023 6:00 p.m. – Location: Haddam-Killingworth High School
* November 16, 2023 6:00 p.m. – Location: Haddam-Killingworth High School
Finally, all presentations and documentation regarding the project can be located on the Master Plan Project website. If you have any questions, concerns or suggestions regarding this project, contact masterplan@rsd17.org.
On Tuesday, May 9, 2023, RSD 17 hosted the first of four Community Conversations to discuss the District Master Capital Plan and to collect the community’s input and reaction.
Regional School District 17 was established fifty years ago, when Haddam and Killingworth decided to join forces to educate their children in a regional school district. Each town contributed existing school structures and since then, the District has renovated those buildings, built a new school and closed an elementary school. Due to the age of the buildings, shifting enrollment, changing educational needs, more considerations for security and health, it is time for the District to consider long range Capital Plans for its four remaining school buildings.
While our maintenance staff has kept our buildings clean and well maintained, the buildings, with the exception of the sixteen-year-old Intermediate/Middle School, are very old and outdated and the building structures and internal infrastructures are deteriorating at a faster rate than can be repaired. And, because of their vintage, the parts needed are hard or impossible to obtain, making repairs very costly and time-consuming. The time has come to make necessary changes.
At the first community conversation meeting, Tecton Architects, well versed in school construction, provided extensive data related to building age, condition, needed repairs/refurbishments, occupancy standards, cost to provide necessary capital improvements and enrollment projections. Tecton Architects was hired by RSD17 to develop a long-range, generational plan with the input of Haddam and Killingworth community members that meets the educational, security, and health needs of the schools, while being economically responsible. It is the Board of Education’s desire to make this collaboration with the community as transparent as possible.
Tecton presented a summary of their data to date; from order of magnitude capital fixes to enrollment and capacity studies. Possible options were discussed for facility renovation or rebuilding before opening the floor up to community members, attending in-person and online, to share their thoughts on priorities, the greatest needs, and what is most important to them.
