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February 18, 2009

Sandown elementary schools could merge

By Emily Moffett

SANDOWN — The Timberlane Regional School District has proposed a project that would consolidate Sandown North Elementary School and Sandown Central School.

District officials hope for voter support.

A March warrant article asks the school district to raise and appropriate the sum of up to $455,000, which would go toward the planning, engineering, full design and permitting of the project.

The consolidation would begin its planning phase during the coming school year. Superintendent Richard La Salle said he expected construction to be finished around September 2011, if a second article for the cost of construction passes next year. The money would be raised in the form of a 10-year bond for about $6 million, he said.

La Salle said there were a variety of reasons to consider the project, which would include a 20,000-foot addition to Sandown North Elementary School. The main incentive, he said, is the money the new school would save over the next 11 years — about $4.6 million.

No staff cuts are involved in these savings, according to project manager Lance Whitehead of Lavalle Brensinger Architects. He said the company has been working with teachers to make sure they understand and are onboard with the plan.

"All the teachers are moving over to the new facility or will be able to go to another school," Whitehead said. "People find it hard to believe that building can save money. But it will cut a lot of spending in half. No one is losing a job. The savings are based solely on maintenance expenses."

La Salle said the logic behind the savings comes from the fact that it is less expensive to maintain one building than two.

"We'd be saving on the heating, cleaning and electricity spent on the other building," he said. "Right now, we have about eight classrooms and 860 students at Central, and we had an analysis done by the New England School Development Council that projected a decreasing enrollment over the next 10 years or so."

Sandown North Elementary Principal Jo-Ann Georgian said the biggest incentive to her was not the money, but the benefits the project would have for children.

"I support the project very strongly," she said. "The reason is because by grade three children reach a point where they are coming into their own, we know the students well, and we can support them. But then they're forced to move on. And that transition can be difficult for them no matter how supportive the new school is. It would be nice for the younger students to have older role models, and it would teach the older students responsibility."

Georgian said the consolidation would be easier on parents, too.

"Parents are very busy," she said. "And they sometimes have two schools to attend events at and pick their kids up at. It can be hard. This project would make it that much easier."

Whitehead and Georgian said the Sandown Central building is in rough shape, and would need repairs whether the consolidation took place or not.

"In this economy, savings are, of course, very important. But the bottom line is that the other building is substandard," Georgian said. "Children should be educated in the best possible facilities. If we can educate them well and save money, it becomes a no-brainer."

Georgian said the community seems to agree, saying she hasn't heard anything but positive feedback from parents, staff and students.

"I would not, in this economy, stand and propose a construction project, but for the fact that this one saves money," La Salle said. "It's a win-win. There would be better lighting, better air quality and better safety. It's good for the kids and it's good financially."

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Sandown elementary schools could merge
by By Emily Moffett , , Wed Feb 18, 2009, 02:26 AM EST
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