BRUNSWICK

Brunswick’s fifth-graders will soon be a part of the junior high school.

The school board voted 7-2 for the junior high school to absorb up to the entire fifth grade, with board members Michele Joyce and Rich Ellis in opposition.

The change comes because Harriet Beecher Stowe is experiencing a population bubble. Opened in 2011 with the intention of educating 600 students, HBS’s population is expected to top 700 students next year.

Board member James Grant said the junior high plan was “educationally sound, and not disruptive to the grades that are already there.”

This year, 490 students attend the junior high. The population in the building will be at about 650 with the fifth-graders. The school will need to introduce an additional lunch time as well as fifth grade recess. The school would need to find more parking for staff, parents and visitors, and more bike racks. More buses or longer bus routes would be needed.

According to estimates provided by Superintendent Paul Perzanoski on Thursday, the total estimate for moving the fifth grade to the junior high school is $231,797, a figure that is subject to change.

Of that estimate, about $216,000 would cover leasing four classrooms in portable buildings, including site work, installation and plumbing, among other costs. Relocation costs would come to $5,750, and almost $10,000 could be spent on technology costs.

Several alternatives were rejected by the board Wednesday, including expanding Coffin’s programming to include grades K through 5 which would require upgrades to the aging Coffin School. It would cost between $19 million and $28 million to renovate Coffin School, depending on the extent of the renovation, numbers that Ellis disagreed with.

“I don’t think the price tag is accurate,” Ellis said, adding that he was “frankly appalled” that price included the renovations that Coffin may need anyway.

Ellis said he proposed creating two K-5 schools in order to “produce a more equitable environment” for education.

Some board members also cited Coffin School’s age and condition for rejecting a plan to move the entire second grade to that school as a way to ease the pressure of the population bubble. The district has been trying to work out the timing for a bond to pay for a new $24 million elementary school that would replace Coffin School, and board members said they were reluctant to spend more money on a school that may soon be replaced.

“Investing money in Coffin is, in my mind, a fool’s errand,” said board member Christopher McCarthy.

Perzanoski in February floated plans before the school board to convert the Hawthorne Building — a former school that currently houses school administrative offices — into what has alternatively been referred to as a “Choice” or “Magnet” school with a 138-student capacity. Qualifying students would be chosen by lottery, which would answer questions over inequality, said Perzanoski.

Consideration for that plan — favored by Chairwoman Michele Joyce — was eliminated Wednesday, when some board members said they were concerned that voters may cite the creation of a new school at Hawthorne as a reason not to approve a bond for a school to replace Coffin.

“The staff we would need to add is minimal,” Perzanoski said, adding that the school would be “something unique and different.”

“It would be a win-winwin. You don’t want anything to do with it,” Perzanoski told board members. “I just don’t get it.”

The board did vote to form a committee to develop choice programming within the current schools.

Wednesday’s decision was the culmination of more than two hours of, at times, contentious debate. The board had been discussing possible solutions since February, and seemed on the brink of endorsing moving Grade 5 to the junior high earlier this month. However, ongoing debate and requests for more information on costs delayed the decision, to the frustration of Joyce who lamented during a May 7 meeting that the school board “has a habit of wanting to talk things to death.”

Discussions resumed May 14, when Ellis proposed creating two K-5 schools, drawing the ire of Perzanoski, who said the school board’s indecision was causing a difficult working environment for his staff, and pleaded with the board to “stop this madness.”

Frustrations were again expressed Wednesday.

After Ellis complained that he doesn’t “get a lot of support” for researching the effect of income inequality on education, Perzanoski shot back: “If you weren’t listened to, I wouldn’t have busted my butt to go out and listen to every single elementary teacher, and many of the junior high teachers, to devise a plan to address your concerns. So please, I don’t mind listening to someone’s opinion, but please don’t sit there and say you haven’t been listened to.”

Joyce twice remonstrated audience members for speaking loudly or snickering during the meeting while board members were talking, at one point threatening to remove some people.

“We’re not here to entertain you, we’re here to work,” Joyce said. “We don’t need a peanut gallery.”

jswinconeck@timesrecord.com

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