$438K Sought for Westbrook, Connecticut, Schools

WESTBROOK - Imagine being asked to spend almost $300,000 but not knowing exactly how it will be spent.

It's 68 percent of the $437,900 that voters will be asked to move out of the town's unappropriated fund balance to spend for three different projects at an upcoming town meeting.

At a joint Board of Selectmen and Board of Finance meeting held on Dec. 6, Westbrook Superintendent of Schools Patricia Charles and members of the Board of Education proposed the town spend approximately $399,000 for school safety and security issues and, of that, $299,000 for security improvements.

Of those security improvements, the Board proposes spending $127,108 at Daisy Ingraham Elementary School, $71,101 at Westbrook Middle School, and $100,184 at Westbrook High School.

The Board believes the middle school, the newest of the three buildings, needs the least amount for security improvements.

"Our buildings lack entry security and additional perimeter protection is needed," Charles wrote in a letter to First Selectman Noel Bishop.

Some schools throughout Connecticut have improved security by installing entry buzzers, door alarms, video and audio surveillance, motion detectors, metal detectors, and by hiring additional security personnel or extra police patrols.

Charles said specifying how the money would be spent would reveal current vulnerabilities at the schools.

A handout at the meeting given to Board of Finance and Board of Selectmen members revealed how the money would be spent but Charles asked for those handouts back and requested members not reveal that information to the public.

Board of Education Chairman Matt Alaimo said that the plan is based on recommendations given in a security audit performed by Connecticut State Police Troop F in December 2006.

The audit was reviewed by Board of Education members who developed specific goals and an emergency management plan, which was drafted between February 2006 and February 2007.

Proposed security improvements were not prompted by any incidents, Alamio said.

While giving her support for committees, Charles said none has been formed that would oversee the proposed security improvements and she would take that on as her responsibility.

Charles said residents must decide on the matter before January to allow the project to possibly receive a Connecticut Department of Homeland Security grant providing funding up to 30 percent for each school.

While she admitted that the district does not have "priority schools", she is hopeful that the state is more likely to issue grants to schools without any entry security like Westbrook.

The Board is also requesting that residents approve spending $99,000 for a new fire alarm system at Daisy.

Charles said the current system was made by a company who has since went out of business and since the system is obsolete, it is hard to find spare parts.

In a letter to Bishop, Charles indicated that "up to this time, when the panel has been in a trouble condition, the panel has still been able to transmit to Valley Shore. I am concerned that if another part of the system malfunctions, that may not be the case."

The fire alarm system will not be eligible for possible grant funding, Charles said.

Additionally, Dennis Hallahan, Chairman of the Daisy Roof Replacement Committee, is requesting the town spend $39,900 so that Kastle Boos Associates can perform architectural services for the replacement of the Daisy roof.

The replacement is necessary because part of the roof is 30 years old while another part is 17 years old.

Hallahan predicts the actual roof replacement will cost at least $1.5 million requiring the measure to go to residents at a future town meeting.

Only five days before Christmas, voters are being asked to attend and vote on these issues at a Dec. 20 meeting at 7 p.m. in the Multi-Purpose Room of the Mulvey Municipal Center.