$100M new school a good idea?

NORWALK — For officials at Norwalk Schools, building a new $100 million school building for pre-K to eighth-grade students on Shady Lane Drive is a no-brainer — especially when the state has agreed to pay for more than half that cost: $52 million. That was one of the messages given out Thursday night at a town hall-style meeting occurring at Norwalk High School. The school district has a 5.4-mill, 37-year bond issue on the ballot for the Nov. 5 election. While the 5.4-mill issue on the ballot sounds high, officials said the committee for the bond issue is striving to make voters understand that the "effective rate" will be just 2.65 mills for property tax. That's because as of August, the bonds for Norwalk High School, which opened in 2001, have been paid, so that levy is now finished. With that millage "falling off" district residents' tax bills, the voted levy amount, if the new school is approved, translates to an $8 monthly increase — $96 per year — per $100,000 home value, according to the levy committee. "It makes zero sense to renovate those buildings," district superintendent Brad Cooley told the 50 or so people in attendance. He said renovating the district's schools aging schools would cost $69 million, nearly $20 million more than what the district would be paying to build a new school. He also said a new pre-K-8 school will offer appropriate classroom space and meeting rooms, increased course offerings and opportunities, enhanced safety and security, improved efficiencies and reinvigorated community pride. "There has been years and years of work to get to where we are today," Cooley said. School board president Alison Crawford said she has four children in the district. And, at one point, all four children were at different school buildings. "It's not easy on parents," Crawford said. Building the new school would mean fewer trips for parents, she said. She also called Norwalk's aging school buildings "archaic." Board member Jeremy Norris reiterated what a great deal is in front of taxpayers. "For the state to be paying so much of this is amazing, and we cannot pass this up," Norris said. School board member Kayla Burkett said that a new school would potentially help the district attract more staff. School board member Eric Gonzales said the new school is a commitment for future generations. "This project isn't free. It's going to require a sacrifice," he said. Most in the crowd were decidedly for the new school and there was nobody in the audience who spoke against the proposal.