NORWICH – If you are looking for the scent of new erasers and freshly sharpened pencils in the air, you’ll have to wait a few more weeks. You are more likely to smell construction dust and fresh paint on any stroll through Norwich school halls this week.
Despite the construction debris and hard hat requirements, Superintendent Gerard O’Sullivan fully expects all four of the district’s schools to be ready for students come the first day of the 2008-09 school year.
“I get more confident every day,” said O’Sullivan. Don’t expect, however, for all of the final details to be finished by Sept. 4.
At Stanford Gibson Primary and Perry Browne Intermediate, the second half of the work begun last summer is near completion. “I’m very pleased to see where they are with the construction,” said O’Sullivan. “We’re in really great shape in those buildings.”
O’Sullivan showed similar confidence in the progress of work at the middle school. More of a concern is the high school. “It will be a race to the finish line,” reported O’Sullivan. “In a perfect world, everything should have been done.”
Some projects, like replacing lockers in the high school, are being put on hold while work is focused on more critical areas. The library, nursing/community health center, gymnasium and pool are some of the projects that O’Sullivan considers “non-negotiable.”
“We don’t want to take time out of task,” said O’Sullivan, stressing that student areas are the priority.
The high school’s Large Group Instruction Room is one space that will not be completed in time for the first day of school. The district can live with this, said O’Sullivan, because the room will not be needed right away. It should be finished by the end of September.
The superintendent is more concerned about the high school gymnasium, “We’re running into problems getting sub-flooring in,” said O’Sullivan. While he’ll be unhappy if the gym isn’t finished by Sept. 4, he is confident it would be turned over within the first few days.
The district offices is one of the projects being moved to the back burner, reports the superintendent. The district will continue to pay rent at their present location in the Eaton Center until the new offices are ready.
The move, originally planned for August, is now slated for December. “It is so far in the future, that it’s not on the radar screen,” said O’Sullivan.
Special Education
Construction isn’t the only thing on the superintendent’s mind. He is also dedicating time and resources to the district wide focus on special education.
The focus on special education is tied to the middle school’s School In Need of Improvement (SINI) status. “Overall our general academic scores are rising,” stated O’Sullivan. The exception is special education students.
In order to move away from SINI status, one of the things the district will need to work on is improving scores in that segment of the student population.
Spurred on by this and the fact that Norwich City Schools have a higher than average special education drop out rate, O’Sullivan announced that the district will be expanding one of the most popular special education programs.
