Bethel Superintendent Gives Update on Johnson and Rockwell School Renovation

Christine L. Carver, Ed. D. Superintendent of Schools gives update on Johnson and Rockwell School renovation projects

• We have been through and have approval with the Department of Administrative Services, Office of School Construction for design development.  

• Our architects, Perkins Eastman, have developed construction drawings, which are in the process of being reviewed by a third party code reviewer.

• Rizzo Corporation, our Construction Manager at Risk, is developing bid documents and construction schedules.  

• The Public Site and Building Committee has hired a Commissioning Agent.  The job of a Commissioning Agent is to ensure that all systems within the building are functioning as the owner intends them to.

• Bids for an Owner’s Representative have been received.  The Owner's Representative will represent the town in the oversight of the project.   The Public Site and Building Committee are in the process of reviewing the bids and will develop a process to select a firm.  

• We had several studies completed and reviewed this summer, including a traffic study, geotechnical engineering survey, a land survey, and hazardous materials survey.  

• We have received planning and zoning approval.  

• We will be going back to the Office of School Construction in September for a plan review and authorization for bidding.

Our next big phase in finalizing the construction schedule is to have a comprehensive understanding of the environmental issues and a safe abatement process.  Thus far we have completed the testing for asbestos, lead and PCB’s.   Given the age of the structures, none of the results have been surprising.  

With Rockwell being older, we knew there would be more environmental issues.   There have been some questions from parents regarding the abatement process. This is highly regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency.   While the finalized schedule has not been completed, we will not do abatement while students or staff are in either building. Given the type of abatement, it might be when school is not in session (weekends, breaks, holidays, or summer break) or after the school day.  With the safety of students and staff at the forefront, if the abatement occurs after the school day, we will only do so if all EPA regulations are in place given the type of abatement. Once we have complete environmental information, I will send out a more detailed communication.   

Bethel High School Track and Field Training Facility

Thanks to an anonymous donor the town of Bethel may be receiving a groundbreaking Track and Field training facility.   If approved, this complex is tentatively scheduled to begin the construction phase in November of this year with a target completion date ofDecember 1, 2019.  The facility location is proposed to replace the old tennis courts adjacent to the high school. The building will have a 4 lane 200 meter running track, storage, bleachers, and a large open space for training purposes.  We will keep you updated as we have more information.

Other Campus Improvements

• You probably have noticed that we have replaced the Circle of Friends playground.  

• Work is scheduled for next week to extend the sidewalks at the entrance to Berry School.

• We are scheduled for a repavement of the Junior Parking Lot (across from the Stadium Field) prior to school starting.  

• We have replaced all of the uneven sidewalks in front of Bethel Middle School.  

• With the support of Park and Recreation, we have taken down a number of dead trees on the campus.  They were significant safety issues.