Shelburne voters weigh cost of school upgrades

SHELBURNE Parents and other visitors who toured two wings of Shelburne Community School last week saw firsthand the problems that could be fixed if voters approve bonds on Nov. 3.

Up for votes by secret ballot are two separate 20-year bonds. One, for $2.39 million, would pay for roof replacement, reinforcement and insulation. The other, for $6.83 million, is for renovation of the two oldest wings, including new windows.

The dozen attendees agreed that the tour, escorted by principal Allan Miller and school board chairman David Connery, helped to answer their questions about the proposal.

Some wondered why the work had not been done more gradually. Leyla Alnaswari is the parent of a son in second grade and aunt of a third-grade student. "I do feel that the school needs the work," she said. "I would have expected that the school could keep up more than it has."

She added, "At some point you need to address the needs. I think the people who prepared the proposal have done a great job of prioritizing."

After voters defeated an $11.2 million bond on Town Meeting Day, the school facilities committee and board revisited the scope of work and cost estimates. They decided to separate the roof bond from the renovation aspects, giving the roof the highest priority.

Miller said after a heavy rain in late September, six roof leaks occurred, and they are common also in lesser rainfalls. The bonds were placed on the November ballot instead of in March because the work needs to be done next summer, he said, and time is needed for bids to be submitted after the vote.

Longtime Shelburne homeowner Sueayn Wood said in a phone interview that she disapproves of the bonds for several reasons, one being the time of the vote.

"Normally, capital expense bonds are put on the March ballot so the town can get involved and have a better opportunity to pass them. All of the bonds should be in March," Wood said. A town meeting and hearing held the night before each Town Meeting Day allows discussion.

Wood also said she is concerned about the economy in Shelburne and the tax effect on mid-priced homes. "The value of the town's high-priced homes has declined. Reassessment will put more value on homes in the $300-$500 thousand range, and it will shift a whole bunch of (tax) responsibility to medium priced homes."

"What is going to happen is people are not going to move to Shelburne," she said. "I think saddling voters for $9 million bonds for a declining school population is very unwise."

A query to the Chittenden South Supervisory Union office corroborated Wood's statement about declining school enrollment, without considering other changed aspects of education.

Sandy Raymond, executive assistant to Superintendent Elaine Pinckney, said the current enrollment at Shelburne Community School for pre-kindergarten through 8th grade is 778, and records for the 1997-98 school year pegged it at 830 for K-8 only.

Wood said people do not want to speak against the bonds because they would be called "kid-haters," which she said she is not.

"I do care about education. I just want to see it run as a business. I'm anti-getting further into debt," Wood said. "In the past couple of years, the school board has been myopically involved in the school renovation. It should evaluate the cost of operation."

Although Wood has recently moved away from Shelburne, she will continue to own a home there and pay taxes, she said.

'Essential' upgrades           

As the tour moved through the halls, Miller asked people to notice that students interrupted their work to look at passersby. The open-classroom concept built in 1967 provides a view in and out of classrooms and can be distracting to classes, he said.

Supporters say the proposed renovations would make the two sections of the school quieter, safer and warmer, with corridors moved to the interior and windows added to classrooms instead of lining the halls.

Thermally efficient windows throughout the school would replace the original single-paned ones.

"I'm in support of both bonds," said Susan Moegenburg, one of the parents on the tour. "The roof is essential, and the windows don't provide the insulation that is needed."

By telephone later, seventh-grade student Reid Galvin recalled his third-grade experience in the oldest wings of the school. In winter it was often cold, he said. "We wore our winter coats."

"It was kind of bland," he said, because they could not see out the windows that lined the hall. "There was no natural light, just overhead lights. And in the library, there were leaks in the ceiling."

As the tour reached the science lab — also open to the corridor — teacher Lisa Phelps described the water situation the classes face.

"Typically a science area has multiple sinks where students can access water, especially to wash hands. Right now, when students need to wash up after a lab, a number head down the hall to bathrooms, past other classes in session, while others wait to access the one sink."

In the nearby maker space, students were busy with hands-on projects, including repairing bicycles. Miller said three or four such spaces are needed, as well as more rooms for students in the English Language Learning program to meet with their instructors.

Thirty-two students from at least 14 different countries are enrolled at the Shelburne school, most of whom do not speak English in their homes, Miller said.

The renovations would include providing the ability to lock down the school during emergencies, replace the inefficient heating system, and add new bathrooms to meet handicap accessibility guidelines.

Facilities committee chairman David Hillman wrote in an email, "After the failure of the last bond vote, we regrouped the facilities committee to include two individuals who were quite vocal about the scope and cost of the proposed renovations." They and others in the community did not feel the committee had done its best to control costs and define the needs, he said.

In the interval before the current proposal was presented, the committee worked with an environmental consultant, a local contractor and a state fire marshal to consider alternate materials and cost reduction.

A brochure describing the provisions of the bonds is available on the school website www.scsvt.org.

Bob Mason, Chief Operations Officer for CSSU, said the tax rate increase for a $400,000 home would be $220 per year if both articles pass. A 1993 renovation bond will be paid off in December, reducing taxes by an amount equivalent to that for the upcoming roof replacement bond.

Several Shelburne residents, who are not parents of students and who were contacted by a reporter, said either they did not know about the school renovation and bonds or were not interested.

Three more opportunities are planned for touring the school.

"Many people have commented that the best way to understand the need for these improvements is to walk through and see them full of students and teachers," Connery said.

The walks will begin at 8 a.m. on Oct. 20 and Nov. 2, and an evening tour will be held at 7 p.m. on Oct. 27. Voting will be from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Nov. 3.

The bond for renovation of the two oldest wings, including new windows, is for $6.83 million. The number was incorrect in an earlier version of the story.