Schools

School Board Unveils Nathan Hale Relocation Plan, Public Sounds Off [with Poll]

The community got the chance to offer its opinions on the Board of Education's decision to close Nathan Hale Elementary School Thursday.

The Board of Education unveiled its plan Thursday to relocate Nathan Hale Elementary School's 261 students, as the Spruce Street school is indefinitely starting next year until a plan to rehabilitate the school can be devised. 

The Board of Education voted earlier this year to take the elementary school, which was built in 1921, "offline" due to extensive and costly repairs required to keep the school's aging heat piping and boiler systems running. With an enrollment of 261 students, Nathan Hale has the third smallest enrollment of the school system's 10 elementary schools. 

The plan unveiled Thursday in the auditorium of Manchester High School would see kindergarten through fourth grade students at Nathan Hale shuffled to four "adjacent" elementary schools, while the school's 44 fifth grade students will advance to the sixth grade-only Bennet Academy. Starting next year, 29 Nathan Hale students will be shifted to Highland Park Elementary School, 65 to Washington Elementary School, 47 to Martin Elementary School and 36 to Keeney Elementary School. 

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The plan also includes orientation programs for the affected students, a planned information session for parents about the changes, an increased crossing guard presence at "key cluster stops" and a "transition program" involving social workers and school psychologists for each of the elementary schools that receive Nathan Hale students. 

Interim Superintendent Richard Kisiel said the goal of the relocation plan was "to try and keep families closest to their nearest school, rather than to have to go across district." 

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"In developing this relocation plan, we realized it's not just a matter of relocating children, it's a matter of helping them transition to their new school," Kisiel said. 

The school system hired the engineering firm of Milone & MacBroom to help it draft the relocation plan, according to Kisiel, at the cost of $9,500. 

Kisiel said that one of the concerns with the plan was the fact that most students at Nathan Hale were able to walk to school, but will now have to take a bus. He said students might not be comfortable with the busing at first, so a bus monitor will be provided for each of the buses with relocated Nathan Hale students on them. 

"These children have not experience bus rides, and from our experience those who haven't need time to adjust to a bus transportation system," Kisiel said. "With an adult on the bus we believe that will help them through that early transition period." 

Once the school board finished presenting the plan, the public was allowed to comment on it and ask questions. 

Don Palmer said he was concerned about Nathan Hale being closed for a prolonged period of time because of a projected increase in enrollment in the Manchester school system in coming years. 

"I am still concerned about closing a community school and not really planning on what we are going to do later when our population increases," Palmer told the school board. "I don't want to see us spending a lot more money down the road to go back and fix a problem because we didn't look far enough ahead." 

Kisiel said that the recently approved would be tasked with coming up with a longterm plan to solve that problem in the coming months. 

Several residents complained that they felt Nathan Hale students were being "shortchanged" by the closing, noting that the school board committed more than $14 million for a "like-new" recently but can't find the money to fix Nathan Hale's boilers and piping system. 

"Every elementary school child deserves a neighborhood school. It's hard to justify how we can spend $14 million on Highland Park, and then we can close Nathan Hale," said Leslie Fry. 

While resident Eileen Sweeney said she thought the school board's decision to close the school would be "awful" for the affected students.

"I remember what it was like as a kid, and I would be so scared right now to think that I was leaving my neighborhood, leaving my friends," Sweeney told the school board. "I just don't think it's good for them." 

Click here to view the full Nathan Hale Relocation Plan.

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