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Residents, board members dispute proposed swing-school site as referendum looms
Summary
Public commenters and several board members urged broader outreach and reconsideration of placing a temporary “swing” school in Standish Park; the board reiterated that the town-appointed building committee and consultant are finalizing recommendations and no formal location decision was made at the meeting.
Jennifer Curry, a Wethersfield resident, urged the Board of Education to step up outreach about an upcoming elementary school building plan and referendum and said she is “in support of the referendum, period, full stop.”
The central controversy at the meeting focused on the proposed location for a temporary swing school to be used during multi-year construction. Curry and other speakers said placing the swing school in Standish Park (also referred to in the discussion as Stannish/Standish) would disrupt a highly used historic park and neighborhood. A board member read a letter from Paul LaSella opposing a Standish Park site and arguing the town-owned parcel referred to in the meeting as Keisha Farm would be a less disruptive alternative.
Board members and residents debated the tradeoffs of possible sites and urged more community outreach. Curry urged the district and elected board members to explain key details to residents, including the planned reconfiguration from five elementary schools to four plus a 5–6 academy and how the Webb building’s design factors into that change. She said the conversion would change where and how children are housed and would require staffing and counseling adjustments.
Multiple board members said the advisory school building committee and the district’s consultant (identified in the meeting as TSKP) are still completing studies and recommendations. John (identified in the meeting as the board’s liaison to the building committee) and other board members emphasized that the consultant provided data and that the town-appointed committee is the body expected to present final recommendations on sites. A board member who lives near Hamner said personal proximity to a proposed site does not change her support for moving forward with the larger building project.
Several speakers, including Curry and the letter reader, asked for clearer townwide communication: open forums, mailers to every household, visits to senior centers and day cares, and other outreach so voters understand the project, potential traffic impacts, and the timeline. Concerns frequently cited in public comment included traffic on narrow streets, the historic character of Standish Park and Old Wethersfield, lost recreational space during construction, and the multiyear duration of a swing-school use (commenters said construction and swing use could last “8 to 10 years”).
No formal vote or change of site was taken at the meeting. Board members asked the building committee to continue its work, share data, and increase public communication ahead of the referendum timeline discussed elsewhere in the meeting.
The meeting record shows persistent disagreement about the proper swing location but not a board decision to adopt or reject any particular site. The building committee is expected to finish its recommendation before the district and town councils finalize plans for a referendum.
Looking ahead, board members and public speakers said they want clearer, townwide explanations on why the district is proposing the 5–6 academy structure, how class sizes and specialist travel would be affected, how student-support caseloads would be distributed, and where swing space will be sited during construction.
