BRISTOL — Residents attending a public hearing concerning a proposed $200,000 expenditure to place a modular classroom at Danbury Elementary School largely supported the idea, but posed questions for the Newfound Area School Board to consider before finalizing the deal.
The hearing originally was scheduled to meet the requirements for withdrawing money from the Building Maintenance Expendable Trust Fund, but the district learned that it would not be a proper use of those funds.
“We really went into the modular classroom for Danbury with all the right reasons,” said Interim Superintendent Steve Nilhas. “Unfortunately, we didn’t do the process correct, and that’s on me. … I think maybe our exuberance over finally getting some things for Danbury, like a place for library books, a place for a classroom for every grade level, a place for other supports that every other school in the district has, and Danbury doesn’t have — probably my own personal exuberance to address some of that jumped over a little detail that’s an important detail.”
Dana Torsey of New Hampton asked why the expenditure had not been put on the ballot for the recent school district meeting, but more to the point, he asked whether the $200,000 expenditure was a stopgap measure that will later require “half a million” in spending.
A typical modular classroom ranges in price from $475 to $525 per square foot for purchased buildings, and $275 to $300 per square foot those that are leased. That includes not just the cost of the classroom but also delivery, installation, site prep, and site work. A 750-square-foot purchased modular, therefore, would cost between $356,250 and $393,750.
Ruby Hill, president of the nonprofit Danbury Education Foundation, whose mission is “to marshal the community’s resources equitably to guide and support the provision of quality, free, and public educational experiences to children in Danbury”, said the group has been coordinating efforts to keep the cost low. The group has secured an engineer to look at the best type and placement of a modular; an excavator who will do the site work at no charge; a contractor who will build the required ADA-compliant access ramp at no charge; an electrician who has committed to do the necessary electrical work; and a $20,000 donation to install the modular classroom. The group also has arranged for a right of way, if needed, across the back of the property, in case it is necessary to modify the entrance to Danbury Elementary School.
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