Vote for new Wentworth

The Wentworth Intermediate School is barely functional, much too small and – most importantly – not safe for students or for staff. To further delay its replacement would be a disservice not only to the immediate Wentworth community, but to the people of Scarborough and beyond. Here’s why:

Asbestos, radon & mold are prevalent. Less than half of the building has sprinkler systems. There are 25 ways in and out of Wentworth, which means the facility is not safe or secure.

Interest rates are at historic lows, and construction costs will only go up when the recession recedes. There is never a perfect time to make this type of critical investment. But in a stronger economy, the current price tag may not buy us much more than a couple of the many trailers now attached to the shell of the original building.

Rather than settling for the status quo or minimum standards, the current design’s classroom sizes and overall capacity ensure an optimal educational experience and allow for inevitable future growth. None of want to cut corners, or end up with more trailers five years into a new building.

The people using this sick building are our friends, neighbors, and our future – our future community members in every sense. An investment in their health & well-being is an investment in their futures and ours.

The educations of today’s adults were supported by their elders. If everyone were responsible only for the educations of their immediate children, public education as we know it would not exist.

Be a “yes” person, be a supporter, be community. Please vote for a new Wentworth anytime between now and Election Day – Nov. 8.

Katie Fellows

Scarborough

Now’s the time

As the former president of the board of the Morrison Center, the most recent school to be built in Scarborough, I feel compelled to offer my experiences given the similarity between Wentworth and what we faced at Morrison.

Before building this special needs school, we, too, were faced with a dilemma – we were working out of a dilapidated building in Portland which did not meet the needs of our students. However, a new school is no small investment – and we were planning this in 2008, at the beginning of the recession. We moved ahead, realizing that it was the morally correct thing to do for our students, and what soon became clear, was also the correct financial move for the center. Construction during a time of economic uncertainty offered us the benefit of competitive pricing on construction, as well as a higher level of available skill engaged in the actual construction.

As a Scarborough resident, I no longer want to see millions of good taxpayer dollars going toward the resuscitation of a Wentworth building that has no future, and is unhealthy for our children. I have seen a fine teacher have to quit her job there because the air quality in the school made her too ill to work. I have also seen a neighbor have to home school her son when he became ill at Wentworth. We spend $30,000 a year on mold removal, while cutting foreign language programs. Is this how we want to spend our tax dollars? Our roofing contractor would only warranty our 20-year roof for five years due to a lack of structural integrity at Wentworth. What do we do after that?

I have been impressed with the yearlong commitment of the more than 40 experts and volunteers who have tirelessly worked on the new building design. I believe that the school is reasonably designed, and will be efficient to operate. If anything, it is more modest in design than many of the new schools being funded in other communities in the state.

We all know we need a new school – this issue isn’t going to go away, and we’re going to have to do it ourselves – as we are a low priority for state funding. I for one, would rather do it now, when the cost is lowest and the impact greatest on our students. It’s the right building, at the right time, for the right reasons.

Jane Mount

Scarborough

Replacing Wentworth makes sense

Replacing the Wentworth Intermediate School now makes good sense no matter how you look at it. Starting now on a new school that is safe, secure, energy efficient and designed to support 21st century instruction is the very best investment that the taxpayers of Scarborough can make for their students and for this community.

Failing systems and a building design that is incompatible with current instructional practices create great inefficiencies and wastes. Wentworth is not energy efficient nor can it be made efficient. Annual heating costs alone run almost double what a similar sized, energy-efficient school building would cost. The one-level, expansive, patchwork design of Wentworth not only wastes energy dollars but, as well, wastes instructional dollars as young students spend precious instructional time traveling long distances to access bathrooms, water fountains, and central common areas of the school.

If there is one thing that we New Englanders (and others, I am sure) dislike more than almost anything else, it is “throwing good money after bad.” Continuing to invest in a failing Wentworth School facility has us doing just that. Failing building systems not only result in erratic and insufficient heat and air flow throughout the school, the current inefficient boilers and systems will continue to demand constant maintenance and replacement dollars with no appreciable improvements derived from these investments. It makes more sense, I hope you will agree, to invest these otherwise wasted energy and maintenance dollars in a new, state-of-the-art designed, and energy-efficient school that will continue to deliver returns on the investment for many, many years to come.

Health and safety concerns add to the urgency for replacing the Wentworth Intermediate School now. The current school lacks up-to-date fire safety systems and fire suppression technology. Design and system limitations create insurmountable building security concerns and still other challenges related to the safety of pedestrians and buses. The design, age, and construction materials of the Wentworth school gives us significant worry about heating and cooling, mold, ventilation, and air quality.

The new Wentworth will incorporate a geothermal energy system, one that is efficient, environmentally friendly, and one that will provide a timely return on this investment. The new Wentworth provides teaching and learning space that will support today’s instruction and technology in an environment that is healthy, safe, and secure. The new Wentworth project makes sense and puts an end to “no-win” maintenance expenditures. This project is reasonably priced and appropriately designed to be responsive to both the educational and fiscal needs of this community. Please support the new Wentworth Intermediate School project. Now is the time and it just makes good sense.

Dr. George H. Entwistle 3rd

Superintendent of Schools

Scarborough