Milford School Committee: Casino bad for schools
MILFORD —
School Committee members raised concerns over the Milford casino proposal, specifically what it would do to enrollment in the at-capacity school buildings, at their meeting Thursday.
“I want a strong statement that this isn’t a positive impact on our schools, no matter what carrot they hang in front of us,” said School Committee member Christine Boyle.
Several School Committee members raised concerns after watching the Foxwoods presentation to Selectmen on Monday night that showed plans for a $1 billion, 660,000-square-foot resort-casino to be located at the intersection of Interstate 495 and Rte. 16.
At the meeting, Foxwoods officials presented schematics, results from their traffic, water and sewer impact studies and some mitigation options.
School Committee members said they were uncomfortable with the lack of discussion surrounding the potential impacts and mitigation efforts to the schools.
“They talked about computers, but they’re temporary, that’s not a carrot for the school system,” Boyle said.
Superintendent of Schools Robert Tremblay said he has been researching what the potential impact of a casino would be on the school system, specifically by contacting officials in about 10 school districts in the communities surrounding casinos in Connecticut.
“We don’t know what that drain will be,” Tremblay concluded. “It could certainly be a drain”
Tremblay said school enrollment has been relatively flat over the last 10 years and is projected to remain flat for the next 10 years. He said school buildings, including the new Woodland School, can only be built large enough to hold the projected number of students, according to the state building authority.
“Enrollment is the major concern, regardless of whether the students are English Language Learners or not,” Tremblay said. “We can’t fit more students.”
School Committee member Scott Harrison said the only proposed investment he saw for the school department during the lengthy presentation was in low-flow fixtures to control water usage to free up water for the casino.
Huh? In other words, the community lacks adequate water!
“At that point I looked over at (fellow school committee member) Joe (Morais) and said, ‘we’ve got some problems,’” Harrison said.
Tremblay said the only real mitigation effort to alleviate the enrollment concerns would be for Foxwoods to build the town a new school.
“I looked at the plan, it’s not in their plans right now,” Harrison said. “It’d be tens of millions of dollars to build a new school. The dollar amounts they’re talking about gifting the town still wouldn’t cover that.”
Tremblay said he’s drafted a memo, referencing various studies and his anecdotal findings, expressing the school department’s main concern of enrollment. He said he welcomed the School Committee members’ feedback before passing it along to town officials and the developers.
“I want a strong statement that this isn’t a positive impact on our schools, no matter what carrot they hang in front of us,” said School Committee member Christine Boyle.
Several School Committee members raised concerns after watching the Foxwoods presentation to Selectmen on Monday night that showed plans for a $1 billion, 660,000-square-foot resort-casino to be located at the intersection of Interstate 495 and Rte. 16.
At the meeting, Foxwoods officials presented schematics, results from their traffic, water and sewer impact studies and some mitigation options.
School Committee members said they were uncomfortable with the lack of discussion surrounding the potential impacts and mitigation efforts to the schools.
“They talked about computers, but they’re temporary, that’s not a carrot for the school system,” Boyle said.
Superintendent of Schools Robert Tremblay said he has been researching what the potential impact of a casino would be on the school system, specifically by contacting officials in about 10 school districts in the communities surrounding casinos in Connecticut.
“We don’t know what that drain will be,” Tremblay concluded. “It could certainly be a drain”
Tremblay said school enrollment has been relatively flat over the last 10 years and is projected to remain flat for the next 10 years. He said school buildings, including the new Woodland School, can only be built large enough to hold the projected number of students, according to the state building authority.
“Enrollment is the major concern, regardless of whether the students are English Language Learners or not,” Tremblay said. “We can’t fit more students.”
School Committee member Scott Harrison said the only proposed investment he saw for the school department during the lengthy presentation was in low-flow fixtures to control water usage to free up water for the casino.
Huh? In other words, the community lacks adequate water!
“At that point I looked over at (fellow school committee member) Joe (Morais) and said, ‘we’ve got some problems,’” Harrison said.
Tremblay said the only real mitigation effort to alleviate the enrollment concerns would be for Foxwoods to build the town a new school.
“I looked at the plan, it’s not in their plans right now,” Harrison said. “It’d be tens of millions of dollars to build a new school. The dollar amounts they’re talking about gifting the town still wouldn’t cover that.”
Tremblay said he’s drafted a memo, referencing various studies and his anecdotal findings, expressing the school department’s main concern of enrollment. He said he welcomed the School Committee members’ feedback before passing it along to town officials and the developers.
Read more: http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/x211326953/Milford-School-Committee-Casino-bad-for-schools#ixzz2VlLgmhM4
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