Norwich school buildings project: Is the price going up or down? It depends on who you ask

There are differing ideas on what to do with the Norwich school building budget, and it's split among party lines.

During the Monday night City Council Meeting, they referred two different plans for the school building project to both the School Building Committee and the Norwich Board of Education for input before a public hearing on Aug 19.

The first proposal, from the City Council Republicans, Bill Nash, Stacy Gould and Mayor Peter Nystrom, would reduce funding for the total school building project from $385 million to $342 million, but would also eliminate renovations or replacement of Teacher’s Memorial Global Magnet Middle School, and the conversion of the Samuel Huntington School into administrative offices.

The second proposal from Democrats Shiela Hayes and President Pro-Tempore Joe DeLucia, would maintain the Teacher’s and Huntington projects, but accommodate for additional expenses by increasing the budget from $385 million to $435 million.

Norwich Councilmember and School Building Committee Chair Mark Bettencourt said the numbers are still being worked on, but they will not be as high as what the second proposal asked.

The biggest budget challenge is the Greeneville site. There will be “value engineering” on all the sites, including Teacher's, to help rein in the costs. An anticipated drop in enrollment will also help determine where to cut back, Bettencourt said.

“When we’re all done, we have a decent shot at getting in that ($385 million) neighborhood,” he said.

The school building project was passed by the voters at referendum in Nov. 2022. The plan passed was to build new elementary schools through the city, along with the changes to the Teachers and Huntington buildings. While the total cost was $385 million, the expected cost to the city at the time, after state grants, was $149 million.

Taxpayers concerned about rising costs

At the Norwich City Council meeting Monday, numerous residents shared their concerns about the school building project, alongside rising taxes.

“(The City Council) just doesn’t seem to understand that people have to pay for these things,” Resident Rodney Bowie said.

Another resident, Barbara Burgess, said the residents have to be the parent when the city is acting like children, constantly asking for money.

“You’ve got to figure this out without opening up my checkbook,” she said.

This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Norwich school buildings project: Is the price going up or down? It depends on who you ask