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12/10/2018 11:00 PMThe Clinton Board of Education has announced the timeline for the closing of the Abraham Pierson School and realigning the district for the 2019-’20 school year. The timeline, which includes everything from planning when the trucks arrive to a commemoration for the retiring school, was announced at the board’s Nov. 19 meeting, and has been posted to the district’s website.
The Clinton Board of Education (BOE) unanimously voted to close the school at its Nov. 5 meeting. The vote came several months after a subcommittee undertook a facilities study to look at the needs of the different schools in the district. Citing rising costs and declining enrollment, the committee recommended that the BOE close the Pierson School, which serves grades 4 and 5. Under the move, grade 4 will go to the Lewin Joel School (which currently serves pre-K to grade 3 students) and grade 5 would go to the Jared Eliot Middle School (now serving grades 6 to 8). The changes will go into effect during the 2019-’20 school year.
The timeline lays out eight facets of the transition that will be completed between December 2018 and November 2019. Several of the steps will be taken concurrently.
The components of the move are school program planning, school staffing, school space, packing and moving, technology, transportation, closing and opening, and facilities. BOE Chair Erica Gelven said that each component of the move would be undertaken by different subcommittees.
The planning for the packing and moving of the school will take place between January and August 2019, though the physical moving will take place when children are not in school.
“During the school year, it’ll be behind the scenes work,” said Gelven.
Mapping out the spaces in the buildings and figuring out the logistics of the moves will begin in January.
“The actual process of moving will be done in the summer,” Gelven said.
The last step taken will be facilities management, which, according to the timeline, includes details such as the playground transition project, summer school relocation, planning for Pierson school close-out, building systems shutdown, and finally returning the facility to the town. This step will take place between May and November 2019.
Also outlined in the timeline is the formation of a committee to plan a commemoration of the closing of Pierson. The establishment of the committee and planning of the celebration will take place between December 2018 and August 2019.
Gelven acknowledged that the idea was “a little corny,” but said she felt that given the history of Pierson it felt like an important step to take. Gelven said details on the celebration will be forthcoming.
Control of the school will be turned over to the town once the building is no longer needed for educational purposes, something the timeline calls to happen in November 2019. Earlier in 2018, First Selectmen Christine Goupil said that the town would be proactive in its efforts to determine an appropriate use for the building, including market research and outreach to the public.
Some members of the community have speculated about moving the Henry Carter Hull Library to the Pierson School building and then selling the current library location, a move Goupil said the town will investigate, but one she personally doesn’t believe will be feasible.
The BOE is considering holding a public information meeting updating residents on the move in the spring, though no date has been set. Additionally, Gelven said that ongoing updates will be provided under the “District Reorganization” tab on the district’s website, www.clintonpublic.net.