Harriman Group: Move Everyone Out of ARD

April 10, 2019

On Monday night, April 8, 2019, the Allenstown School Board held a public meeting for residents to learn what were the findings and recommendations of the Harriman Group regarding the conditions of and solutions for the two public schools, AES and ARD. About 50 residents attended, including two of Allenstown's Selectmen. With such a critical topic on the agenda, it was disappointing that so few residents were present.

Ann Bond, an administrator for the Pembroke Speaks Facebook site, posted a video of the meeting. As a possible affront to our civil rights, the superintendent told her he "doesn't want meetings taped," so she had to hunker down inside the audience about 20-30 feet from the speakers. If there are any lawyers out there, you may want to contest that position.

Unfortunately, the camera position never changed and the audio volume was so weak that you could barely make out what people were saying.

It would be such a benefit if a professional videographer could be found to record such meetings. They are public meetings so it is unreasonable (and suspicious) for school or town officials to object to a recording being made, especially for viewing by residents who did not attend. There is nothing secret or confidential going on, is there?

The other disappointment was that the Harriman reps. were not prepared to offer cost estimates for any of their options. They instead reviewed their findings and discussed details about the several options.

Hard to Hear What Was Being Said

From the back row, it was hard to hear the members of the school board, unless they grabbed the one microphone available. It was even harder to hear residents who were speaking. There was a microphone stand in front of the audience, but no one used it and they were not instructed to use it. Several people spoke without standing up, which seemed disrespectful to the school board and the rest of us.
Solution

AES Findings and Recommendations

For AES, the Harriman Group reps. presented numerous findings, including these needs:

• Install a sprinkler system.
• Replace all windows.
• Improve the electrical system.
• Replace the wood frame addition (rear).
• Create a secure building entrance.

They reviewed the redesign options for AES. These included a baseline design (pre-K to 4th) and two options (pre-K to 5th). The two options moved the 5th grade moved from ARD to AES to reduce the load on ARD. Option 2 seemed the most effective, since it would replace the kindergarten addition with a wider and longer structure out the rear of the school in order to move the 5th graders from ARD to AES. They next went into the details about locations of classrooms and other spaces.

ARD Findings and Recommendations

The findings and recommendations for ARD echoed the facility report in that they emphasized that it was not worth spending any more money on fixing that school. They concluded that the building structure was in poor condition and its systems were not in good condition either.

All their scenarios moved ARD students to another "undisclosed location." They also recommended planning for 10 additional students per grade for possible future growth. Also, the new facility needed to incorporate state/federal requirements for minimum square footage per student.

The following options were discussed:

1. Replace ARD with a new 5th-8th grade school (200 students).
2. Replace ARD with a new 6th-8th grade school (150 students).
3. Replace ARD and AES with a new pre-K-8th grade school (420 students).

Time Frame for Renovations

In answer to one resident's question, the Harriman reps. said it could take 6-9 months to complete all the design plans and 1-2 years to complete reconstruction.

ARD to Three Rivers

Superintendent Warburton talked about the option to send ARD students to Three Rivers School in Pembroke. He cautioned that there were still many details to be worked out including a tuition deal between Allenstown and Pembroke only. This elicited several more questions and comments.

Some Interesting Public Comments

One speaker worth noting was John Hayward who had been on the Allenstown School Board several years ago. He said they had gone through a similar investigation and decided to make small updates to both ARD and AES as part of a long range plan. But the budget committee would not recommend it and the town voted it down. He hoped the current board would not "kick the can down the road" but make sure that something would actually be done.

After the meeting, Mr. Hayward gave Allenstown Alt more detailed recollections of that previous attempt to fix the schools.
"We had nothing major in our school budget. The teacher contract was all set, the tax rate was low due to money coming in from the Claremont suit. With this in mind, we decided to make some updates that included changing the entrance to AES, the kitchen at AES, and updating the heating at ARD after frozen pipes had burst. The board presented a slide show to the public and the budget committee, stressing that we were taking small steps to address bigger problems. The budget committee refused to give it approval. I was at that meeting where -- without any discussion -- they voted it down with the added comment, 'the school always gets what it wants, now it is the town's turns.' The budget and the plans were voted down on election day."

The other speaker was this writer, who supported the option to move students out of ARD, but emphasized that part of the solution would be to then sell the ARD property and used the proceeds to renovate or expand AES. ARD sits on 2.5 acres (inadequate for a public school) and has an assessed value of $2.3 million. If ARD is to be emptied and not renovated, why keep the property? Once sold, it would then become TAXABLE property.

What You Can Do

Contact any member of the school board and give your input as to what you think is the best solution. You can also volunteer for the one or more study committees that the school board might create to study all the options. Since many residents do not have children in the school system, it is hoped that many of them would volunteer for these committees. Even though you don't have school-age children, you are still paying taxes to run the schools and need to be represented on these committees.

You should also attend the next school board meeting at ARD on May 13 at 6:00 p.m. at which time the costs for each option should be presented.