Politics & Government
School Board Discusses Deal for Parker School
The town recreation department could be leasing Parker Memorial School to host many of its programs, including its summer camps.
Over the coming weeks the school board and Town Council must hash out the fine print of two agreements that could allow the town's recreation department to use Parker Memorial School and lay out who is in charge of maintaining school grounds.
The Board of Education discussed both agreements at it’s Wednesday night meeting. Both now go before the Town Council for its consideration at its June 14 meeting.
The first agreement, detailing the use of Parker Memorial, allows the Recreation Department to use the school’s 1992 addition for its programs for the next five years. According to the recreation department’s Web site, the 1992 addition will be used for this year’s summer camps because the Crandall Park pavilion that collapsed under the heavy snow this winter has not been rebuilt yet. The recreation office will also be run out of Parker Memorial at some point.
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Department of Recreation and Adult Education Director Tom Ainsworth helped draft the contract and said the building will be a good fit for the department’s needs.
“We’ll expand the number of programs we’ll be able to do during the day because we have more space,” Ainsworth said. “I think we’ll be happy with this one.”
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Under the agreement, the town of Tolland will be responsible for ground maintenance, snow removal, custodial services and payment of the school’s utilities. Since the town is only leasing the 1992 addition, it is also required to segregate the addition from the older sections of the school, which Superintendent of Schools William Guzman suggested could take shape as a temporary wall.
The Parker Memorial School’s parking lots will also be available for Tolland Intermediate School overflow during popular events.
The second agreement discussed is a renewal of playground and school ground maintenance between the BOE and the town through 2014. The agreement preserves most of the previously held responsibilities. However, the BOE will take on the cost of operating the Tolland High School irrigation system, which Guzman estimates to be approximately $3,000.
The Town Council will vote on the agreements at its next meeting, Tuesday, June 14th at 8 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Hicks Memorial Municipal Center.
