MONROE, CT — The Ad Hoc Facilities Committee unanimously agreed to recommend Option B to address the town’s school space needs to the Board of Education. The proposal includes reopening Chalk Hill as a grade 5-6 school, with seventh and eighth graders going to Jockey Hollow and all three elementary schools teaching pre-K to grade 4.
An additional floor would be added to Chalk Hill to house the Therapeutic Day program and Central Office. Before a motion was made to vote, Board of Education Chairman David Ferris who also heads the committee, made it clear that adding a third floor to Chalk Hill was the committee’s intent.
The vast majority of residents speaking at committee meetings and participating in surveys expressed support for Option B over Option F, which would have reopened Chalk Hill as a grade 4-6 school, made Fawn Hollow and Stepney grade K to three schools and repurposed Monroe Elementary School.
“I really came into this with an open mind,” Superintendent Joseph Kobza said at last week’s meeting. “I think financially, Option B makes sense for us and overall.”
Kobza said he didn’t want to sway anybody while the process played out.
Ferris said he changed his mind a lot, then thought about the availability of land and making better use the town’s buildings.
“I think input from the community was very clear — that Option B is the winner,” he said. “And that’s how I’m going to vote.”
Sue Dixon, president of the teachers union, said the union’s survey results were nearly the same as the district’s, in which 66.1 percent preferred Option B.
“I lived here my whole life,” said Jerry Stevens, a school board and committee member. “I know we have no land available. I’m an alum of Monroe Elementary School. My heart is there. Chalk Hill worked as a 5-6 school. I’m in favor of all our schools being open and Option B.”
Tim Piedmont, Parent Council co-president, favored Option B. He said, “the make or break for me was fourth graders shouldn’t be with fifth and sixth graders. They belong in elementary school.”
Megan Damato, Parent Council co-president, agreed.
“As a parent here, my children have thrived in these schools,” she said, adding she know’s whatever option the district chooses, it will continue to thrive. “I’m on the same page as everyone else,” Damato said of Option B.
Town Council Chairman Jonathan Formichella also expressed his preference for Option B.
Board of Education Vice Chair Christine Cascella said, as a parent of a Monroe Elementary School student, she has a bias to keep the school open as an elementary school.
“I tried to keep an open mind through this process, but couldn’t imagine not having a neighborhood school,” she said. “That was a hard no for me.”
Assistant Superintendent Sheila Casinelli expressed her support for a therapeutic day school and for keeping Monroe Elementary as a neighborhood school.
Jen Parsell, director of Student Support Services, said she supports Option B, while also stressing the importance of having a therapeutic day program in the district.
Fawn Hollow Elementary School Principal Leigh Metcalf Ances and Masuk High School Principal Steve Swensen also favored Option B.
Steve Kirsch, a committee member who serves on the Board of Finance, said Chalk Hill had worked well as a school for grades five and six years ago, and he opposed closing it at that time. “I knew it was going to come back,” he said. “That’s where we are. B is for me.”
Rebecca O’Donnell, chair of the Board of Finance, said, “my kids went to Monroe Elementary. I do like the neighborhood feel. I’m for Option B.”
“I was for Option B months ago,” said Finance Director Ronald Bunovsky.
By the time it was the final committee member’s turn to speak, Director of Facilities Dan Kroffsik said, “does it matter what I think?” as the Masuk media center erupted into laughter.
Kroffsik said he favored Option B for all of the reasons everyone else gave.
After the unanimous vote, the superintendent stressed the fact that the process of solving Monroe’s school space problems is far from over.
“Please stay engaged in this process,” Kobza said. “This is not the decision. This is a recommendation to the Board of Education. We’re going to have these conversations and ferret it out. We want to be as transparent as possible.”
Once the Board of Education approves a plan, Ferris said it will go through the first selectman, Town Council and Board of Finance. “This could change and evolve as we go,” he said.
There is some concern over missing the June deadline to apply for state reimbursement for a capital project, due to delaying it for a year with the possibility of receiving less reimbursement.
Michelle H. Miller, a project manager and architect with Silver Petrucelli & Associates, said she understands the urgency, but through her experience, the process of applying for financial reimbursement works better when towns take their time leading up to it.
Once the school board approves an option, Miller said a design firm could be hired, and by the time the town applies for reimbursement in June of 2026, the schematic design will be done with cost estimates and more information on hand.
Ferris said the Board of Education had turned ownership of Chalk Hill over to the town after it closed, so the building would have to be turned back over to the board.
The committee also discussed the need to come up with a timeline for portable classrooms to handle the growing student population until Chalk Hill is reopened and the town is embarking on the phases of its facilities plan.
Survey results
The following are some bullet points from the community survey the committee sent out. To see all of the survey results, click here:
- 735 people participated in the survey.
- Among the criteria, most respondents ranked educational goals number one, followed by climate and culture, operating costs, curriculum alignment and access to programming.
- 66.1 percent preferred Option B, 30.5 percent preferred Option F and the rest had no preference.
- 72.2 percent preferred opening Chalk Hill as a grade 5-6 school, and 27.8 percent as a grades 4-6 school.
- 72.4 percent preferred making all three elementary schools grades pre-K – grade 4 with no redistricting, and 27.6 percent wanted to make Stepney and Fawn Hollow grades K-3 and to convert Monroe Elementary into a specialized building housing pre-K, and Therapeutic Day and Alternative Education schools, while redistricting the elementary schools.
During the public comment portion of the committee’s meeting, most who spoke expressed their preference for Option B, keeping Monroe Elementary open as a neighborhood school, and not disrupting children’s lives with redistricting.
One parent, Maria Daulas, president of the Monroe Special Education Parent Teacher Association (SEPTA), told the committee she did not participate in the survey because it only offered limited choices with the two options.
“I do not support Option B or F,” she said. “This was rushed. The focus must be on teaching students, not shifting around buildings to make space.”
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