By JODI WOLFE
Staff Writer

WHERE WOULD IT GO? – The addition would be built out from the cafeteria and into the the current playground. The playground would be shifted over behind the school. (Jodi Wolfe Photo)

With a growing community, the need for more classroom space and a boiler system on its last leg, the Epsom School Board is proposing a new addition and renovations to Epsom Central School on the March 2005 ballot.

The original Epsom Central School was built in 1954 and has since had three additions. The last addition was in 1994, when there were approximately 375 students. Currently there are just over 500 students.

“With the way building is going on in town, this is just going to keep climbing,” said School Board Chairman Donald Harty.

During the school board’s budget workshop on Thursday, Nov. 18, the board choose Eckman Construction Company of Bedford as the general contractor for the project. school needs repairs, reduced class sizes

If the proposal is approved by voters in March, construction would start in August or September and finish for the beginning of the 2006-07 school year, said Harty. Then the students could be moved into the addition to do the renovations in the fall of 2006.

The school board will ask March voters for $6,691,200 for the bond. That number is based on the bid from the general contractor, allowances, and contigency fees, said Harty.

The proposed addition would be located off the cafeteria at the back of the building where the playground is. The playground would be shifted over behind the school.

AGING BOILERS – Epsom School Board Chairman Don Harty looks at one of the school’s two boilers. The mechanical system is old and needs to be replaced. (Jodi Wolfe Photo)

The parking lot would then be moved to where the modular classrooms are located. The slope of the current parking lot causes water to run into the building, said Harty. With the excavation, the construction workers would be able to make sure there is proper drainage to prevent water from running into the school, he said.

The main entrance to the school would be on the side of the building instead of the front. The new entrance would have a security system, so visitors would have to be buzzed in, Harty said.

Less than half the cost would go to the actual addition. Most of it would for renovations to the school, said Harty.

Part of the plan includes installing a sprinkler system in the whole building, which is required by the state. The plan would also include renovating the school’s mechanical system and getting new boilers, which are at the end of their useful life, Harty said.

The boiler system

One boiler is 25 years old and one is 20 years old. About a year-and-a-half ago, one of the boilers cracked on the side, sending smoke and flames out into the rest of the building. Luckily, it wasn’t during school hours.

“They’re just worn out,” said Epsom Central School Principal Jane Fargo.

The boiler has since been fixed, but it is still old, Harty said.

“Basically, we’re living on borrowed time,” he said. It would be expensive to replace a boiler in the middle of the winter, he added.

LIBRARY LOSS – Librarian Carolyn Ortisti stands next to the classrooms that took over library space to accommodate for more students. While the students love the treehouse on the left, the librarians have little room to work with more than one class of students. (Jodi Wolfe Photo)

Squeezed for space

One problem is the increase in students and a decrease in classroom space. The stage in the gymnasium is also used as a classroom for occupational therapy and special education.

“(It’s) not conducive to quiet study while a gym class is going on,” said Harty.

Title I Reading students also are taught in the cafeteria, said Fargo.

One third of the school’s music room has been turned into a special-needs classroom. Students who need extra help come in for usually an hour at a time, said Annette Plante, the classroom’s substitute teacher.

The 144-square-foot room gets very hot and Plante keeps a fan on. When she goes to a different classroom, it’s another world, she said.

“It’s so spacious and airy,” she said.

With the addition, the music room would open up to full size again, said Harty.

In the classrooms

Overall, classrooms are adequate size, but currently all the first-grade classes have 20 or 21 students. The school board and the administration prefer firstgrade classes of 15 to 16 students, but there is no room for another first-grade class, said Harty.

“It’s tight in here,” said Marie Rieger, a first-grade teacher with 20 students. “We don’t have a lot of room to do the art projects.”

Her students sit at tables in groups of five. She would prefer smaller groups because there would be less bickering and noise, but there is no room for another table, she said. She would also like to have more wall space to hang things up.

The modulars

Three third-grade classes are in the modular classrooms outside the school building next to the playground.

While the modulars have bathrooms, the students need to go into the main building for lunch, gym class, art class and music class, said Harty.

“Modulars are never a good thing,” he said. “They provide space, but it’s just not what we like to have for the kids here.”

The library

The current library is overcrowded after part of it was turned into two classrooms.

The library was undersized to begin with, Harty said.

“We have plenty of great books, but we need room for the kids,” said Librarian Carolyn Ortisi.

If the librarians are working with one class, there isn’t a lot of room for other students. There is also no computer or storage space. All the televisions are kept in classrooms.

“It’s hard, but we manage,” Ortisi said.

A nice thing about the library is the treehouse, an area separated by stairs from the rest of the library for students to read. The students love the treehouse, she said.

The cafeteria

The proposed addition also includes a brand-new cafeteria. The current cafeteria is approximately 2,640 square feet and is located in the oldest part of the building.

It’s also the center of the school, so everyone has to pass through it, said Harty. Deliveries also have to go through the school building due to the cafeteria’s location, he said.

The current kitchen is 1,300 square feet. The existing cafeteria would become the new library with a separate computer space and other rooms.

The Epsom School Board will meet again Wednesday, Dec. 1, at Epsom Central School at 6 p.m.