LYME-OLD LYME — On Wednesday, Nov. 17, at 6 p.m., Lyme-Old Lyme (LOL) Schools will host a Community Presentation by QA+M Architecture, who will offer an updated presentation of initial findings from their study of the LOL Schools Pre-K to 8 Facilities and solicit community input.
The meeting will be held in the Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School auditorium at 53 Lyme Street in Old Lyme. All are welcome.
The facilities study includes a review of existing conditions, assessment and evaluation of the buildings, and the future budget cost estimation for repairs/updates.
The information resulting from this study will allow the superintendent and board of education both to plan and budget in a responsible, proactive manner.
The objective of this planning and budgeting will be to maintain the quality facilities that are an integral part of a Lyme-Old Lyme Schools education.
I wonder if the voters knew about this $50+ million presentation, before the BOE candidate Q&A or Election Day, if it would of made a deference in their decision but
I know a candidate who was personally smeared, attacked and slandered, by supposed men who wrote an opt eds in local online forums, about a BOE candidate who knew this was coming!
I guess they wouldn’t of known since they either couldn’t see past their own party lines or they were to inept with their own assumptions of people in their own community
Sad
Let call for a line by line audit of this proposal and see how we can be more transparent
I can say with confidence that all the democratic candidates were aware of this facilities study and the engaged community was also aware. I guess you weren’t paying attention, but there were several questions at the “get to know the candidates” event related to infrastructure and facilities, all the candidates referenced this K-8 facilities study.
I think the community spoke at the election on November 2nd and decided by a wide margin that they want to be represented by smart engaged people who do not fall down QAnon rabbit holes and will vote beyond their own personal interests.
The simple reality is that the elementary schools have not seen major investment in infrastructure since the late 1990s and early 2000s, the last stages of the last facilities updates are scheduled to be paid off soon, so the schools plan to, smartly, leverage that freed up debt and send this project out to bond so that surprise facilities projects are less likely to creep-up on us. The schools and the town have been good at balancing budgets to keep taxes relatively stable, I expect the same thoughtfulness to occur as this project proceeds. The other reality is that there is not space in the elementary schools for the number of students in the district, this is an excellent opportunity for the schools to optimize classroom space since this project will have to go out to bond and avoid the need for things like the temporary classrooms that are behind center school (installed in the late 1990s or early 2000s when classroom space was short).
On a personal level I would love to see Center School turned into an Early Childhood School (PK3-K) to move kindergarten out of Mile Creek and Lyme and create a really forward thinking space for the youngest community members to engage in play-based learning with outdoor learning and play space that is really designed for those 3-6 year old students, I think that would be an extremely high value asset to add to the town.
I am happy to read that the writer agrees that the town has been good at balancing the budget and keeping taxes stable. Thanks to Tim Griswold who was re-elected by smart engaged people.
If reading someones words is now being called a smear, that’s pretty sad and pathetic.
When a candidate for office makes a public statement that a vaccine is comparable to child abuse, it’s not a smear to read those words and discuss their complete lack of merit.
Stop making yourself into a victim. When a candidate says things that are blatant conspiracy theories, it’s not a smear to note that, and remember that when voting.
I can assure Mr. Colwell that knowing the LOL schools were assessing their physical facilities in advance of the election would have had no impact or made any “deference” on my vote. I don’t know whether I am one of those “supposed men”. He certainly has his own “way with words”.