School Board Makes Largest-Ever Capital Request

When Schools Superintendent Kathleen Greider recommended the largest-ever request for $1.6 million capital improvement dollars, she did not express confidence the town would fund it.

“Our highest allocation for capital was at less than $800,000,” she told the Board of Education at an earlier meeting. “We’ve never requested anything as high as $1.6 million.”

So the Board of Education reduced the figure to $1,498,300.

The largest portion, $820,000, is to begin the process of replacing four furnaces at Irving A. Robbins Middle School, that Greider said are beginning to fail. The furnaces were examined as part of the joint Town and Board of Education energy audit. Because of the cost, the project would be split into two parts. The 2012-2013 request would pay for the engineering portion of the project, with $745,000 for equipment and installation to follow in 2013-2014.

The second largest portion of the school board’s capital request represents its continued attempt to bring classroom technology up to date.  Funds to replace 8 to 10-year-old computers across the district have been slashed each of the past few years and Greider said there’s concern “over the functioning of aging computers when students are engaged in writing activities or interventions.”

Also, by 2014, students will be mandated to take standardized test by computer.

In anticipation of last year’s budget, the board looked at ways other towns were successfully getting their technology requests funded and discovered that many were splitting the costs between their capital and operating budgets.

Farmington has since done the same. Primarily, the 2012-2013 request includes funds for wireless networks at Farmington High School and Irving A Robbins, which were cut from last year’s budget, and funding for the purchase of — a leaner way to replace computers throughout the district. The technology portion of this year’s capital request is $473,300.

The board also put $50,000 in the capital request for safety measures to continue to bring school buildings up to code. Projects include radon testing and remediation as necessary, updating to align with the Americans with Disabilities Act, monitoring and removing asbestos as necessary and implementing recommendations from the Occupational Health and Safety Administration.

Finally, $155,000 is allocated for the continued replacement of the Irving A Robbins roof, which the board has been addressing in sections since 2010.

The Town Manager’s budget recommends allocating $555,000 for the Board of Education’s capital request. The Town Council will review the Town Manager’s recommended budget Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Town Hall.