Beadle: Batcheller most likely building to close

WINSTED — While the town’s School Building Committee has not made an official decision, committee Chairman Joseph Beadle told the Board of Selectmen at the March 7 meeting that Batcheller Elementary School is the building that the committee will most likely close down.The committee has been meeting since early January to discuss closing one of the school district buildings before the start of the 2011-12 school year.The closure is due to the Board of Education’s decision to move the town’s seventh- and eighth-graders to the semi-private high school, The Gilbert School.Over the past two months, the committee has toured all three of the town-owned school buildings: Hinsdale School, Batcheller School and Pearson School.Beadle told the selectmen Batcheller is the most likely to close during a discussion concerning asbestos abatement at Pearson School.The board went on to approve a motion to authorize the preliminary work necessary in order for an abatement project to be completed.Before the selectmen approved the motion, Mayor Candy Perez told Beadle that she did not want the town to commit to a project if the school was scheduled to be closed down.“From all indications that I have been told, Pearson is not on the block,” Beadle said. “From what I have heard, the recommendation from the School Building Committee will be Batcheller. The decision is purely based on building maintenance issues and nothing to do with curriculum.”Members of the town’s School Building Committee scheduled a walkthrough at Batcheller Elementary School Thursday, Feb. 3. Only three members of the committee attended — Beadle, Joseph Hanecak and Peter Marchand, along with Superintendent of Schools Blaise Salerno.

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