Expansion plans are being developed for Westbrook’s overcrowded Saccarappa and middle school buildings.

Westbrook residents will most likely be asked this November whether they support a locally funded school expansion project that will include renovations and additions to both Saccarappa Elementary and Westbrook Middle schools.

This week, the Westbrook School Committee will give final approval on a contract with architects Harriman Associates for the design of both projects. The design work is expected to cost $119,700, which will come from the district’s contingency fund from this fiscal year.

The company will work to ready the project for a referendum on Nov. 8. School officials have said any expansion project would have to be funded by local taxpayers, given the logjam of school projects seeking money at the state level.

Superintendent of Schools Marc Gousse declined to estimate a figure for the project, stating that it’s too early in the design process. But last summer, Dan Cecil, the architect developing the plans for Harriman Associates, gave initial cost estimates of $11 million for Saccarappa and $3 million for the middle school, which he said were very early, and very high, estimates.

Westbrook has been battling overcrowding for the past few years, with increased enrollment testing the limits of the aging Saccarappa Elementary School. The department added two additional portable classrooms this year, one each at Saccarappa and Canal elementary schools.

The proposed project would also add six additional classrooms onto the uncompleted third-floor wing at Westbrook Middle School. When originally built, the state declined to fund the wing, but the school was constructed to easily allow for it. The middle school is now considered “at capacity.”

“We believe this will take us through the next decade,” said Gousse on Monday.

At Saccarappa, which hasn’t seen any physical renovations since it was built in the 1950s, the district is looking to add 10-12 classrooms. The renovations would also include the construction of a new gym and cafeteria, while rehabbing the so-called “cafegymitorium” space into a library.

The school’s library is in a portable classroom outside, and many students eat lunch in classrooms.

Since last year, when expansion plans were first rolled out during public meetings, Saccarappa Principal Brian Mazjanis said he has tried to convey to parents that their children aren’t learning inside closets, but that some innovation from the staff is required. Staggering lunch times is just one solution, while portable classrooms have been another. During winter months, students bundle up and slog outdoors to the portables.

The Saccarappa project would add roughly 28,000 square feet onto the school, and would provide code upgrades to the building. The additional classrooms would most likely come off the end of the existing parking lot, displacing the tennis courts.

A major factor in discussions about the expansion project is the now-visible residential development taking shape off Spring Street. Risbara Bros. Construction is developing a 183-unit subdivision known as Blue Spruce Farm, and while the project isn’t expected to yield a high number of students, it is still playing into the plans. Any elementary-age children living there would most likely attend Saccarappa.

Gousse said Monday that, depending on the impact from the project, the department may change the district lines to even out enrollment through the district’s three elementary schools.

“If we do the project right, which we plan to do, it will open up room at Congin and Canal,” he said.

He referred to the proposed expansion as a community project, stating that the additional space will positively affect the entire school department.

School Committee member Veronica Bates, whose daughter attended Saccarappa and now attends the middle school, said the school felt “claustrophobic” even when her daughter attended a few years ago.

She said that between the influx of new students from away and new development, schools haven’t been able to keep up, especially as declining state revenue has forced the School Committee to slash capital projects from the budget.

“We are reaching capacity within the schools. We need this expansion,” she said. “I do not want to see more portables. That is a Band-Aid, not a permanent fix.”

Bates said the committee’s job now is to make sure the community understands the need for the expansion.

The School Committee will be naming a Building Committee soon, Gousse said.

Cecil, the architect, said the first step in the design is meeting with faculty about what the schools’ needs are. He said once there is a working design, it will be vetted by the building committee, the various parent-teacher organizations, and residents during additional public meetings.

Cecil said the next public meeting will be sometime in March.

The design process is seen as an aggressive schedule. In order to get on the November ballot, the design must be completed and approved by both the School Committee and City Council by sometime in August.

“I want to be cognizant of what the community can afford,” Gousse said.

Mayor Colleen Hilton said this week that she supports what the school administration has done.

“I believe the School Committee and administration have done a good job sharing the current state of our school facilities, the changing needs of the current student population and are doing good work predicting future building needs,” she said Wednesday.

During a joint Westbrook City Council-School Committee meeting in August, Hilton questioned whether the community would be willing to support both elementary and middle school projects. School officials have said that moving forward with both projects at once saves money in the long term.

Hilton said Westbrook voters have traditionally been very supportive of education and will likely continue to learn more about the proposed projects.

“I am convinced the need is there and the long-term investment will be a wise one for the future of our schools,” she said.

If approved in November, Gousse said, construction would most likely begin in the spring of 2017.

This photo captured by a drone Tuesday shows Saccarappa Elementary School in Westbrook. An expansion project adding 10-12 classrooms likely would stem from the portion of the school next to the portable classroom, at bottom center. Rough architectural drawings show six additional classrooms added to the third-floor wing of Westbrook Middle School, adding roughly 7,100 square feet.Kindergarten teacher Selena Marden ushers her students to a portable classroom outside Saccarappa Elementary School last year. The district added two more portable classrooms at elementary schools this year to combat overcrowding.

Copy the Story Link