New schools could be open in 2011

In the most optimistic scenario, the two new schools sought by the Board of Education could be open when school begins late in the summer of 2011, officials say.
Perhaps most surprising, though, is that the worst case scenario calls for the pair of 900-student, kindergarten to eighth grade schools to be ready in 2012.
That would mean, for example, that third graders at Greene-Hills School today could wind up going to a new school next door when they hit sixth grade instead of getting bused to Memorial Boulevard Middle School.
Mayor Art Ward said he’s beginning negotiations this week to purchase the former Crowley dealership next door to Greene-Hills for use as a school site.
Negotiations for the other proposed site, a sand pit off Barlow Street in the western part of town, haven’t yet begun, officials.
William Smyth, the assistant school superintendent for business, said that architects for the two projects – which may be rolled into one big project – will likely be hired this spring. They’ll need about a year to finish detailed plans, he said.
Assuming the plans are done in the spring of 2009, Smyth said, the state would review them and construction bids would likely be sought in the summer of 2009.
It will take two years to build the schools, Smyth said, which means a 2011 opening at the start of the school year is possible.
Smyth said the worst case scenario envisions the schools opening the following year.
However, there is at least one potential hitch.
City Councilor Frank Nicastro, who chairs the city’s Real Estate Committee, said that when the school building committees are finished negotiating the purchase price with the owners of the land eyed for the new schools, his panel has to approve the deals.
Since two of the three members of the real estate committee – Nicastro and city Councilor Mike Rimcoski – voted against putting a school on the Scalia Construction site off Barlow Street, convincing it to back the purchase might be difficult.
It’s unclear whether the real estate panel can block the entire project over the long haul, but as long as Ward doesn’t shuffle its membership, it might have the capacity to delay or derail the entire plan.
The school board is looking to open the two new schools and close four older ones. Memorial Boulevard and three primary schools – Bingham, O’Connell and Greene-Hills – would be shuttered if the plan goes through as envisioned.
A massive, citywide redistricting would be necessary to fill the remaining schools properly, with about half the city’s middle school students in a K-8 setting and the rest continuing with the existing system at Chippens Hill and Northeast middle schools.


Appraisal for Scalia site
A secret appraisal done in January pegs the value of the 36-acre property eyed for a school on Barlow Street at $1.5 million.
The Aldieri Associates appraisal said the site is “conducive to a variety of potential developments,” including perhaps housing.
The Press obtained a copy of the appraisal from a confidential source after the Board of Education refused to allow inspection of the pricing reports done on both of the sites eyed for potential schools in Bristol. Appraisals are exempt under state open government laws when they’re used for real estate negotiations.
City officials speaking on background have said they suspect the city may wind up paying more than $1.5 million for the Scalia site.
The property is zoned R-15, according to the report, sand could be carved up for single family homes with a minimum lot size of 15,000 square feet, according to the appraisal.
Using the $1.5 million estimate for the land’s value, that would make each lot worth about $22,000.
Michael Aldieri, who wrote the Jan. 14 report, said in it that “given the physical features of these lots, they have an even lower unit value,” which would tend to undermine arguments for a higher price.
The city appraised the market value of the land at $796,600 last fall as part of its revaluation.
The Aldieri appraisal says the highest and best use of the land is for residential construction. It says about 51 lots could be put on the site.
The best alternative uses are for a school or recreational fields, the report says.
The report says the area has been excavated of sand and gravel for years and all of the minerals that are allowed to be mined have been removed.
By the way, if anyone has the Forestville site appraisal, I'd like to see it, too!

*******
Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com