Schools

Automotive Course Stalls Discussion on High School Renovation Specs

A third meeting on the plans that will guide the high school renovation will be held on Tuesday.

 

The Board of Education facilities and curriculum committees held a combined meeting Thursday night to discuss the educational specifications that will help drive the high school renovation.

The goal of the educational specifications is to address concerns in a recent NEASC report, about the high school. School officials want to update the school to meet the demands of a 21st century education. Once completed, an architect and the building committee will use the specifications to design the high school renovations.

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In late March, Rocky Hill High School was awarded continued accreditation, but was placed on a warning list by the New England Association of Schools & Colleges Inc. Commission on Public Secondary Schools. In October, the Town Council and Board of Education decided to focus its efforts on renovating the high school as new.

The renovation is expected to cost about $40 million. The state is expected to reimburse the town about $25 million for the renovations, according to previous reports. The current design would add about 5,000 square feet to the school, however the added area would not increase the cost of the project.

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Automotive Debate

Thursday's meeting was the second time that the committees had discussed the educational specifications and once again, the biggest debate involved the possible elimination of a "power management" course, a class that teaches students the basics of automotive mechanics. 

Board member Ronald Robbins, who supported keeping the course, said the class gave students a hands-on educational option while exposing them to sciences and engineering.

"We are throwing away a great opportunity to expose the kids to new sciences and technologies," he said. "I think power management has value."

However, the automotive equipment at the school takes up a lot of space, has safety hazards and is not up to date for certification, according to board member Brian Dillon. He felt the equipment should be downsized and modernized if the class is kept.

Robbins, who felt there were bigger safety concerns in wood shop, did some research on the topic and found communities that eliminated the class were met with public outcry.

"People felt they were being ignored when it came to the issue of power management," he said.

Board member René “Skip” Rivard felt the possible elimination of a technology education class should be discussed in curriculum committee and not during educational specifications meeting.

"At this meeting, I cannot agree to anything that impacts our current curriculum without discussion," he said.

Dillion said the specifications would drive what curriculum that will be administered at the high school.

"We are not writing curriculum here," he said. "This is what we want to look at going forward."

Interim Superintendent of Schools Mark L. Winzler told board members that they are designing a school for the next 20 years and in previous renovation projects that he was a part of, they eliminated automotive instruction.

Because technology is a specialized area, the educational specifications must be specific and list the exact number of rooms being used by the technology education department, Winzler said. If "power management" were kept, it would increase the size of the building and make the project cost more money. 

“You have to make a decision,” he said.

Following the 45-minute discussion on "power management," the item was tabled until the next meeting.

Next Step

The Board of Education Curriculum Committee will meet on Tuesday at 5 p.m. to discuss technology education. At 6 p.m. that same day, the two committees will meet for the third time to discuss the educational specifications.

After committee discussions, the educational specifications must be adopted by the Board of Education, presented to the Town Council and public hearings must be held before a referendum question can be written on the high school renovation. If a referendum is not set by June, it will have to wait until next year, Winzler said.

Public Involvement

Trevor Sides was one the 20 "concerned citizens" who attended Thursday’s meeting. He told Patch that he wanted to be a part of the high school renovation process from the beginning to make sure the project garners enough support from the public. He felt that the residents of Rocky Hill would be willing to accept a "lower cost solution."

"We need to give the town something to vote on that the residents will accept," Sides said.

Another resident Maureen Florer wants full disclosure during the whole renovation process because she said there are some people who are skeptical of the plans and previous meetings.

"If we all just figure out how to do this with some full disclosure that this could actually happen and the skepticism would not cloud it," she said.

Both Sides and Florer agreed that the board is doing a better job of getting the information out to the public on the high school renovation.

In the end, Florer wants a plan that addresses the concerns in the NEASC report, but helps provide education and instruction for students for the next 20 years.

"I am fully behind what the board is promising here and always have been," she said.

For more information, a website, Rockyhillhsproject.org, has been setup to help inform residents on the Rocky Hill High School project renovation. Residents can signup for email reminders and people can leave questions or concerns at the following link, http://rockyhillhsproject.org/contact-us/.

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