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01/26/2021 03:00 PMThough it has hardly been a central focus for most residents during the past 10 months, not too long ago the biggest issue facing Madison was the town’s aging school facilities and a looming $129 million plan to build a new elementary school and decommission Ryerson and Jeffery.
But here at the beginning of 2021, town and school officials are bringing the discussions back to the table, with plans to begin publicly re-examining the school renewal, or 4-School Model plan, possibly as early as March with the potential to still hold a referendum sometime in the next 10 to 18 months.
Board of Education (BOE) Chair Galen Cawley emphasized that absolutely nothing was set in stone yet, and there has not been substantial discussions around the specific path forward.
“We’ve got the bandwidth now,” Cawley said. “Possibilities are still open.”
The plan, as it stands, was approved by the BOE in September 2019 after a long collaborative process involving the BOE, the Board of Selectmen, and the Board of Finance. A timeline that would have had residents vote at referendum on the 4-School Model in October 2020 was scratched shortly after the onset of the pandemic, with economic uncertainties cited by officials as the primary reason for the delay.
The exact price tag might vary somewhat from the original estimate of $129 million, which includes the full renewal plan along with maintenance projects on other school buildings.
First Selectman Peggy Lyons wrote in this year’s Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) that the town would look to address some of the maintenance needs of those buildings—but not Ryerson or Jeffery—over the next two years.
That document was published last October, and it was not clear if that would continue to be part of the budget discussions this year.
Cawley said that in the world of 2021, there will likely be changes considered and modifications made to the original plan with safety as a primary concern, though he said nothing specific has been discussed yet.
“It’s very hard to retrofit old buildings to meet health and safety standards,” Cawley said. “It’s very hard to maintain proper spacing with some of the existing classrooms and structures.”
Even with the prospect of a post-pandemic school year at some point, perhaps as early as next fall, Cawley said he thought community members and officials would both see some of these specific health priorities differently than they did a year ago.
Any changes will almost certainly need to be approved by all the boards once again, which Cawley said is also important due to how much has changed since last March. He added that public input will be important during this process, without committing to any timeline or format for what that might look like.
“I think that the more public discourse we get, the better,” Cawley said. “We had a really good series of public [town] halls [and] town forums last go-around, and I think the input is great.”
One of the biggest questions around the referendum last year was when it would take place, whether the question would appear on a November ballot with political candidates and issues, or as a stand-alone question. Statutory limitations also could hinder how and when the schools could advocate for the 4-School Model ahead of a referendum, and also when the exact language would need to be approved by town officials and boards.
Cawley said it was estimated the town would save an $800,000 to $1 million annually in maintenance costs after closing Ryerson and Jeffery. The town is still facing about $110 million of upkeep on all its buildings, some of which is included in the $129 million proposal, which Cawley and others have emphasized still must be borne by taxpayers even without the 4-School Model.
Residents would see a tax hike if the plan were approved, with Finance Director Stacy Nobitz estimating back in 2019 that a $400,000 assessed home would see an annual increase of $560 a year over 27 years.
“I am committed to working with the BOE and other elected boards to move forward the...renewal plan in a timetable that addresses the economic concerns of our community while also fulfilling the needs of our schools,” Lyons wrote in the CIP. “We are hopeful this plan can be brought to the voters sometime in 2021.”