With little fanfare, First Selectwoman Lynne Vanderslice added an agenda item to the Oct. 2 Board of Selectmen (BOS) meeting about the status of an ongoing needs assessment being conducted for Wilton’s school buildings.
She then delivered some truly stunning news, from the draft report which outlined the repairs, improvements and upgrades needed in Wilton schools over the next 10 years.
“The cost is in excess of $100,000,000,” she said.
“It’s still a draft and I wouldn’t normally speak about a draft, [but] with the upcoming election and my term ending shortly, I think it’s important, now that I have seen the 10-year projected costs, that I share it in advance of the report,” Vanderslice said.
“It’s a lot of money,” she added, especially considering that cost escalation factors were only included through 2026, making the actual cost of the 10-year plan even higher.
Vanderslice discussed the school buildings assessment in the context of other infrastructure investment and as part of a longterm financial planning process.
“Over the last eight years, we have focused on investment in infrastructure with almost $42 million in the renovation and reconfiguration of Miller-Driscoll [School], assisted by $6 million in state grants; the restoration of roads…; the study by the state of all our bridges, and we have a plan to get that work done; we have done trail building; and of course the construction of the police headquarters. The last three were all assisted with about $30 million in grants.”
“So the next phase in the infrastructure improvements is repairs, improvements and upgrades to the school buildings and to the municipal buildings other than Miller-Driscoll, Comstock [Community Center] and the police headquarters,” she continued.
Vanderslice said the school building needs assessment final report will be available in November.
“In the meantime, we did receive a draft, and it includes a very detailed, comprehensive list… of the work that is required for those three school buildings.”
Vanderslice reported that DPW Director Frank Smeriglio and Assistant Director Jeff Pardo are working with a consultant to prioritize the projects identified in the assessment for year one, year two, etc.
“It’s my opinion that this is not going to get addressed in 10 years. It’s just too large,” Vanderslice said. “And importantly, not all the items appear to be bondable, so some of the expenses are going to have to run through the annual operating expense budget.”
She wondered aloud whether 15 years would even be sufficient.
“Quite honestly, that may not be long enough, especially when we have to add in whatever comes out of the municipal building report.”
Vanderslice suggested a quad-board meeting (BOS, Board of Education, Board of Finance, and Planning and Zoning Commission) in November to discuss the final report, attended by current board members and newly elected members.
“Every board has to understand the magnitude of this, has to buy into it, and it is going to impact them,” she said.
Vanderslice said debt levels going forward could look dramatically different than anyone expected.
“For the May 2024 Annual Town Meeting, we’re going to see bigger numbers in the capital plan than what we previously presented,” She said. “$15 million sounded like a lot until you get this [school buildings needs assessment] report.”
[Editor’s note: Vanderslice contacted GMW after the meeting indicating she had intended to mention the potential for state grants to reimburse a portion of the school projects’ costs. She cited Wilton’s FY’24 reimbursement rate from grants as 22%, according to state statutes.]
This is not all that surprising to anybody with a kid in Cider Mill hearing regular reports of mold and flooding and broken HVAC systems; years of extremely stingy budgets under capricious, ideological, short-sighted Boards of Finance have left us with a very sizable maintenance backlog, and the bill was inevitably going to come due at some point.
I do wonder if – once we’re discussing numbers of this magnitude – it might make sense to look at acquiring the convent across from Miller-Driscoll (already nice and flat and landscaped) as a potential location for a replacement school for Cider Mill; the Miller-Driscoll renovation was, in terms of both cost and results, essentially building a brand new school in place of the old one, and if we’re going to do that again, there could be some significant benefits (e.g. in busing / staffing / start times) to having the two elementary schools across the street from each other. Cider Mill is also close enough to both WHS and MB that some portion of the existing building might be kept to augment the facilities at those schools or at Comstock.
Please show the facts for this statement about “stingy” budgets. Education budget has gone up every year despite declining enrollment. So, please point to the exact line items that were requested by the Superintendent and were not funded.
This article goes to show that our BOE members need to have financial experience. The demands of the position require it.
The BOF doesn’t control funding for specific line items, as I suspect you know perfectly well – they take whatever already-pared-down number the BOE sends them, lop off a couple more million dollars depending on what mood they’re in that day, and then send it back and leave it to the BOE to figure out how to mitigate the damage.
If there’s any board that lacks the experience (or, for that matter, the inclination) to manage school budgets properly, it’s the BOF.
Bravo
Fortunately the town has the Miller Driscoll boondoggle blueprint to follow as it gears up for the next reckless spending spree…
Sadly building maintenance has been abandoned for so many years….
Given what’s happened with inflation and interest rates, Miller-Driscoll has turned out to be anything but a boondoggle; indeed, Wilton’s financial picture would be considerably more rosy now if we’d bonded + undertaken upgrades to the other 3 schools years ago.
Not true. Facts are different. The BOF decided the MD renovation was excessive albeit after construction. They tore down 15 classrooms only to build 15 new…what originally started out as window, roof and mold remediation…3 million ballooned to 50+. That’s why we need business people on the school board…not just parents who pander, rubber stamp the superintendent’s programs.
Although I do agree the BOE persistently ignores maintenance issues at each school…
Ed is spot on regarding effecting building warranties and structural upkeep…that’s the simple solution that will cause less tax pain…