Southington voters approve funding for middle school projects

Voters Tuesday overwhelmingly approved spending $85 million to renovate and expand DePaolo and Kennedy middle schools.

The referendum question passed 4,697 to 2,215. Early in the voting, supporters of the projects were worried, as the numbers were running against the proposal. Democrats backing the school improvements attributed that to parents of children in the school system not voting until the late afternoon or at night, after dinner.

School Superintendent Joseph V. Erardi Jr. had been pushing hard for approval. Along with school board members, Erardi made 32 presentations over the past year on the project, many attended by the public.

"It's great news for us," said Erardi, on Tuesday night. "Southington continues to write a story for the state to pay attention to, for New England to pay attention to and for this country to pay attention. It speaks to our commitment to our children to pass with a margin of over 2-1 in these times. This is a very special community in regards to public schools and children."

The project is scheduled to start in June 2013 and be completed by June 2015.

Talk of renovating the middle schools started 13 years ago. The schools are more than 50 years old and do not meet the standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The renovation project would restore the schools to "like new" condition.

"Like new" refers to the stipulations of a Connecticut law that provides towns and school districts increased state-reimbursement eligibility if they choose to renovate a school rather than build a new one, according to literature distributed by the Southington Executive PTO Council.

"After nearly 60 years without renovations, it's time," said Al Natelli, a Republican re-elected to the Town Council Tuesday night, who spoke about the referendum before the results were in.

"There is technology that has emerged in the last 10 to 20 years that has to be implemented into the middle schools," he said. "We have these children that are coming from elementary schools that have all this technology and they are going to the middle schools without (it). We have to prepare them for the global economy."

The renovation plan for each school will increase the size of each from 107,450 square feet to 140,160 square feet. Each school's renovation will cost an estimated $42,450,000.

Each school will get 12 new classrooms, eight renovated science lab classrooms and new guidance and student service areas, computer labs, media centers, art rooms and music rooms.

New mechanical and electrical systems and technology and security systems are included in the plans, as well as enlarged health offices, additional parking and renovated graphics and tech labs.

According to the town, the cost of the project will not exceed $85 million. Southington is eligible for a maximum of $44.5 million in state reimbursement for both schools, which would result in a total potential cost to the taxpayer of $40.5 million with interest to be paid over 20 years.

"The bottom line is that I am grateful for the school board and elected officials that supported this during these tough times," said Erardi. "It's hats off to them."