Board advances Kelly and South End elementary project planning, flags tight grant timeline

The Southington Board of Education heard a facilities update and agreed to move forward the Kelly Elementary School project and a South End Elementary build-out to the full board for formal consideration.

The recommendation came from Mr. Madanci, who told the board the facilities committee reviewed multiple scenarios and that "the board chair took consensus at the end of that meeting and it was unanimous to move forward the Kelly Elementary School project and the South End Elementary School build out to the Board of Education." He said architects and engineers are finishing two reports — a high-level redistricting report and a "do nothing" cost study — and that those reports are necessary to present options to the public and the board.

Why it matters: the district plans to apply for a state construction grant with a firm submission deadline, and timing determines whether the town and district can complete required public hearings and obtain town approvals in time. Madanci said the grant application is due June 30 and that, "we need by June 1 to be done with everything that needs to occur up to the grant submission, which means the public hearing, the bonding authorization from the town council, and running it through all of the different government channels, planning and zoning, board of finance, and town council." He proposed a special meeting dedicated solely to the elementary facilities item so the community can hear the recommendation and offer feedback.

Officials discussed a possible legislative change that could increase the state reimbursement rate for new construction if a building adds special education or preschool programs. Madanci told the board that a bill discussed in the legislature would add a 15% increased reimbursement rate for each qualifying program; he said, "our reimbursement rate right now is about 46%. If we added a special ed program into one of the new construction and or preschool classrooms, that could increase our reimbursement rate by up to 30%, which means we would get 76% reimbursement on a new construction scenario." He cautioned the legislative session ends in early June and the grant deadline is June 30, leaving a tight timeline to evaluate whether the bill will pass and how redistricting or program placement would change project plans.

Board direction and next steps: the administration will bring the high-level redistricting report and the do-nothing cost study to the board when complete; Madanci said he was promised the reports by March 20 but that date is the same night as a regular meeting, so a separate special meeting is likely. The board chair and administration will coordinate with the town manager and town boards to align public hearings and approvals with municipal meeting calendars.

Public and budget context: Madanci described the technical nature of the forthcoming reports — "an architect, an engineer, a plumber, that go in and go through the building, they go right into the belly and the guts of the building" — and emphasized the need to provide the community adequate time to review options. No formal vote to authorize design or bonding was taken at this meeting; the board advanced the recommendation as an item to be scheduled for future action.

Ending: Administrators will present the reports, schedule a dedicated public meeting, and update the board in weekly communications as the district tracks the legislative bill and the grant timeline.