SANDOWN — Residents gathered at Sandown North Elementary School last night to learn more about a proposal on Tuesday's ballot to consolidate the town's two elementary schools.
The proposed consolidation of Sandown North and Sandown Central School would include construction of a 20,000-foot addition to Sandown North, a project that Superintendent Richard La Salle expects would be done in 2011.
Last night's presentation, organized by the Sandown PTA, was given by La Salle and project manager Lance Whitehead of Lavallee Brensinger Architects. About 30 residents attended.
The PowerPoint presentation was complete with 3-D conceptual designs aimed at enticing Sandown residents to support a warrant article on the ballot. The article asks the school district to spend up to $455,000 for the planning, engineering, design and permitting of the project.
Construction could only begin if a second article passes next year to fund the building costs. La Salle said the projected cost, about $6 million, would be funded through a 10-year bond. The project is appealing in that it would save the school district about $4.6 million over the next decade, the superintendent said.
"The bottom line is that it's more expensive to run two schools than one," he said. "If we combine the facilities, we'd be saving all the costs of operating a second."
La Salle and Whitehead said Sandown Central, built in 1954, is in poor condition and would need numerous improvements over the next 10 years, improvements they consider both costly and inefficient since a projection from The New England School Development Council expects Sandown student enrollment to decline in the next decade.
But voters such as Mark Traeger are hesitant to support a project that he said residents were told was impossible during the construction of Sandown North.
"When there was a campaign to build the school 10 or 12 years ago, we were told that we shouldn't have more than 500 students in one school," he said. "So, how sure are you with these projections that we won't have 500 students in the future?"
La Salle said the project has taken growth into consideration, and that he is sure there will not be 500 students, at least not in the next 10 years.
Resident Holly Langer-Evans was still leery about the project. She lives near the school and is concerned the construction will affect her quality of life.
"I don't want a parking lot in my backyard," she said. "And when the school was originally built and I asked, 'Why not make it all one school?' I was told you couldn't do it. So my trust is at risk. You're asking me to pay something. And I'm concerned as a taxpayer and as a voter that there's a potential we'll end up having to pay more."
