FARMINGTON — A Central Office Committee has been established in Regional School Unit 9 to look at all options pertaining to moving the office to make room for special education students at Mt. Blue Middle School.
The Central Office, which includes the superintendent’s office, is in the basement of the middle school.
It was discussed last year, when the district restructured schools to have the sixth-graders attend the middle school, that it would be a tight fit, Superintendent Tom Ward said. The school now houses students in grades six, seven and eight from the 10-town district.
At the time, it was suggested that, if necessary, the Central Office could be moved from the basement of the school and the current space could be used for classrooms and associated spaces.
A proposal included in the 2015-16 budget plan is to lease a portable unit with four classrooms for special education, to be located outside the exit doors of the middle school cafeteria, he said. The cost is $3,000 per month with initial setup costs of $10,000, including materials.
It would be for two years or less and would allow the district to plan where to put the Central Office, Ward said.
Options include moving the Central Office and staff to the Mt. Blue Campus, where the high school and Foster Career and Technical Education Center are. Available space there includes the incubator space the school has for startup businesses, and displacing school psychologists. The building trades program could build a 4,000-square-foot structure for the office on district property.
Other options are to renovate the bus garage to add space for Central Office or move it to the Cushing School in Wilton. The district could also lease space in the building next to the former Mt. Blue Agway School on Routes 2 and 4 in Wilton or the former Rite Aid in Farmington or the former Fashion Bug store at the Hannaford Plaza, both on Wilton Road.
dperry@sunmediagroup.net
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