Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

WARWICK, R.I. -- There is another school building that might close next year in addition to the John Greene Elementary School, which officials last week voted to shutter despite strong opposition from parents.

On Tuesday night, school building officials appeared before the city Zoning Board of Review seeking a permit to set up trailers at the rear of the administration building because of concerns about air quality in the older wing of the structure off Warwick Avenue.

Zoning Board members gave the School Department a six-month permit for the trailers after listening to officials describe the need to relocate about 25 people because of chronic health complaints including problems with allergies and asthma attacks.

Paul Jansson, construction coordinator for the Warwick schools, said that one room in the older building brick building that was the old Hoxsie School has been sealed off because even leaving the door open causes symptoms for people working elsewhere in the building.

He said that employees need to be out of the 1920s-era portion of the administration building in order to do the testing needed to determine exactly what the problem is.

Jansson and David Small, director of buildings for the School Department, told zoning officials that three office trailers measuring 12-feet wide by 56-feet long will be placed at the rear of the property. The staff should be moved as soon as possible, they said, but more permits are needed from the city's Building Department.

The trailers, which Jansson said will be leased by the year, are not yet in place. In response to a question from the board, he estimated the cost of renting the trailers and hooking them up to the necessary utilities will be about $44,000.

The School Department needs a special zoning permit for the trailers because of restrictions that apply to its location.

In making a motion that the Zoning Board approve the request, board member Richard Corley stipulated that it be for six months even though school officials indicated that the trailers might be there a year.

"They should come back for review in six months so we can see exactly what has been done and for them to let us know whether they can actually remediate the problem with that building or if they will have to move," Corley said. "We should keep the School Department's feet to the fire [to make sure] officials inform the public of what they are doing."

Although no abutters showed up to object to the trailers, about a half dozen parents attempted to tell the Zoning Board that the proposal is a waste of taxpayers' money and yet another indication that the School Department does not take care of its property.

Board members reminded parents that the Zoning Board can only properly entertain comments pertinent to zoning issues. Some of the parents had been strong opponents to the closing of Greene while others have become regulars at School Committee meetings saying they do not have faith in the way the department handles its finances.

Ward 3 Councilwoman Helen Taylor, who criticized school officials at one of the hearings on Greene was also at the zoning meeting.

Jansson told zoning officials that once employees are out of the building, it will take about a month to diagnose what is causing the problems with the air quality. Then, he said, it will be a matter of determining whether remediation is possible and affordable or whether it would be better to move the administration to another vacant.

School officials have said this month that they needed to close Greene in order to save money and pointed to cuts in state aid as they stressed that they hated to close another neighborhood school after shutting three last year. Those elementary schools were Potowomut, Drum Rock and Rhodes. (Drum Rock is now being used as an early childhood development center and part of Rhodes is being rented by the Rhode Island School for the Deaf.)

After Tuesday night's meeting, Tom Daniels, founder of a taxpayers' group devoted to keeping an eye on school policy and spending, said he is frustrated that the School Department would move so quickly to address health complaints from administrative workers when it has long ignored complaints about some of its schools.

The main example, he said, is the Holliman Elementary School where there has been a history of students reporting headaches and symptoms of allergies and asthma.

 Tags  Warwick

Comments

MD5CON said:

STOP WASTING MONEY ON THESE OLD SCHOOLS AND BUY ROCKEY POINT AND BUILD A GREEN SCHOOL SYSTEM WITH WIND &SOLAR POWER IT IS THE PERFECT SITE AND BIG ENOUGH FOR ALL THREE LEVELS OF SCHOOL AND THE OFFICES

Link | May 13, 2009 7:37 AM
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