Winnipesaukee Forum - View Single Post - Alton Central School - Public Hearing

Argie's Wife · 09-28-2007, 11:24 PM

B&D - like I said at the beginning of the thread, the purpose of the public forum is to discuss options - no one's proposing only a new school or only renovations.

Public opinion in Alton, in the past, is that people wanted the school to stay in the same location. The school is a Pre-K through 8 grade school and has over 600 students attending now. The pre-K is for two years (three & four year olds). This means there's ten grades in this school now.

Given that the core of the school was built in the 1950's and then many additions were put on it, with the largest addition being in the 1980's, it's hardly up to today's standards. Most of the windows are single pane windows - which cause a lot of heat loss in the winter. The bathrooms have the same fixtures they were built with back in 1950-something - and certainly not handicapped accessible. I could give other examples, but I'm sure you get the picture. It's a tired and cramped facility.

Personally, I'm for either renovations/expansion OR a new school. Both are attractive options considering the current conditions. The one thing that remains true is that waiting will not make the changes less expensive. The longer we wait, the more expensive this will be.

But a point, if I may, about your comment about building a new school - Interesting that Alton built a new high school about 4 years ago and our property taxes went down... considering the new condos, new housing, and developments coming in, Alton's tax base is only increasing. In my opinion, paying a percent or two more in my property tax on education and providing that education in a more efficient facility is money well spent. Not only will it benefit the students, but also the teachers and staff who work there and also contribute to our community.

09-28-2007, 11:24 PM	#6
Argie's Wife Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Alton Posts: 1,908 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 533 Thanked 579 Times in 260 Posts	B&D - like I said at the beginning of the thread, the purpose of the public forum is to discuss options - no one's proposing only a new school or *only* renovations. Public opinion in Alton, in the past, is that people wanted the school to stay in the same location. The school is a Pre-K through 8 grade school and has over 600 students attending now. The pre-K is for two years (three & four year olds). This means there's ten grades in this school now. Given that the core of the school was built in the 1950's and then many additions were put on it, with the largest addition being in the 1980's, it's hardly up to today's standards. Most of the windows are single pane windows - which cause a lot of heat loss in the winter. The bathrooms have the same fixtures they were built with back in 1950-something - and certainly not handicapped accessible. I could give other examples, but I'm sure you get the picture. It's a tired and cramped facility. Personally, I'm for either renovations/expansion OR a new school. Both are attractive options considering the current conditions. The one thing that remains true is that waiting will not make the changes less expensive. The longer we wait, the more expensive this will be. But a point, if I may, about your comment about building a new school - Interesting that Alton built a new high school about 4 years ago and our property taxes went down... considering the new condos, new housing, and developments coming in, Alton's tax base is only increasing. In my opinion, paying a percent or two more in my property tax on education and providing that education in a more efficient facility is money well spent. Not only will it benefit the students, but also the teachers and staff who work there and also contribute to our community.