Rocky Hill schools mobilize buses and support after apartment buildings deemed unsafe, displacing students

Rocky Hill school officials said multiple apartment buildings managed by a local property were declared unsafe in early February, temporarily displacing families and requiring the district to set up emergency transportation and family outreach.

Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations Dr. Nosik told the board that on Feb. 5 buildings 400 and 500 were initially deemed unsafe, affecting 63 students; the next day buildings 100, 200 and 300 were also found unsafe, raising the total displaced to 129 students across four schools. The district worked with town human services and New Britain Transportation (NBT) to identify where families were staying, establish bus stops at local hotels, and supply schools with lists of impacted students.

"We sent a survey to families and used those responses to set up stops at five Rocky Hill hotels," Dr. Nosik said, describing coordination with NBT and noting that the transportation provider added stops using existing buses and tiers so the district did not incur large fleet changes. He thanked transportation partner Jason Hughes and said NBT added five stops per bus tier to handle the needs without major schedule disruption.

Superintendent Dr. Zitto told the board that the broader incident ultimately involved many more housing units: "544 homes were disrupted — over 2,000 residents in those complexes," he said, underscoring the scale of the town response and district support efforts.

District staff described operational challenges: families frequently moved from one hotel to another, complicating routing; the district started running regular routes from concierge buildings and added targeted van and bus runs when they received confirmed locations. Officials purchased three booster seats to allow two existing vans to pick up small children out of town, enabling those runs to begin without delay. As of the report to the board, some buildings had been cleared for return and 37 students remained displaced, 26 of whom were receiving district transportation; a small number (seven) were still out of town and two families (three students) had not been reached.

Dr. Nosik said the district tracked an incremental direct cost for the out‑of‑town van runs — one van plus an aide — at about $369 per day; the district is documenting those costs for reimbursement by the property manager. Officials said most other added transportation was done by reassigning existing buses and routes and that pickup/dropoff windows remained within established margins so other student arrival times were not materially delayed.

Human services and school teams also provided family assistance and in‑school supports. The superintendent and administrators praised school staff who arranged a support event for impacted families and emphasized continued coordination with the fire marshal, building inspectors and town agencies.

Next steps: the district will continue to provide transportation as needed, monitor building re‑inspections, pursue reimbursement for extraordinary transportation costs, and keep families and the board updated as units are cleared or long‑term housing solutions are arranged.