By Colin Gustafson
Staff Writer
Posted: 11/27/2008 07:20:10 AM EST
Hamilton Avenue School students won't be allowed to move into their new building until April if the school's building committee can't secure the necessary approvals to make the facility safe for occupancy by the end of next week, the head of the school board said.
Board of Education Chairman Nancy Weissler said Wednesday that the facility must receive a temporary certificate of occupancy by Dec. 5 if students are to safely return to classes there after holiday breaks end Jan. 5.
Otherwise, she said, the school board probably won't schedule a move until spring recess, so as not to interfere with students' preparation for the Connecticut Mastery Test, given two weeks after February break.
Hamilton Avenue students' scores plummeted on the 2008 CMT administered last spring, just weeks after mold problems prompted the school's administration to close their modular classrooms and disperse students elsewhere.
If students don't return to the renovated building until April 2009, the project will have stretched to four years from an initially projected time frame of 18 months.
The project, which began in April 2005, has been delayed one time after another, most recently when builders missed a deadline that would have allowed students to move in on the Aug. 27 start of the school year......
.....an engineer's report publicly released Wednesday showed that several areas, including music rooms and a nurse's suite, were still not receiving an adequate air supply, according to Mazza.
The building committee is scheduled to meet next Tuesday morning to assess what is causing the problems and decide whether crews can realistically address them by Dec. 5.
If so, the committee will turn over the renovated building to the Board of Education, allowing school officials to conduct environmental testing and school staff members to begin preparing their new classrooms.
Building committee member
Sylvester Pecora said Wednesday that he was worried the issues that are plaguing the air-balancing system, once figured out, will prove too major to be resolved in a week.
If the project does not hit its Dec. 5 deadline, some parents say their children should be allowed to return to the renovated building as soon as it's ready for occupancy, and not wait until after CMTs are administered. ....
COMMENTS:
A GREENWICH ROUNDUP EDITORIAL
SCHOOL OF FOOLS
Nancy Weissler And Her Negligent Board Of Education And Frank Mazza And His School Building Committee Must Resign Now.
Only Newly Elected School Board Member
Marianna Ponns Cohen Should Remain
The once great Greenwich Public School System has been brought to ruin by Nancy Weissler and her negligent fellow Board Of Education members. Ms. Weisller and her poorly managed board have cost thousands of tax dolars for every man woman and child in Greenwich.
Nancy Wiessler and the School Building Chairman she has supported through thick and thin will soon becoming to the taxpayers once again with their hands streched out.
If Nancy Wiessler, Frank Mazza and the other negligent board members had any decency they would resign.
It Is Time To Bounce These Bozo Board Members
And Their Failed High Paid Educrats
NANCY IS IN WAY OVER HER HEAD
Wielser's Poor Manaagement Skills And Lack Of Expierence
Has Orchestrated The Fall Of Our Once Great Public Schools.
Blame abounds, but most of it must accrue to Nancy Wiessler and the Greenwich Board Of Education for their undying support of Frank Mazza and his band of idiots on the Hamilton Avenue School Building Committee.
JUST WHO IS ON THIS COMMITTEE
THAT HAS REPEATEDLY FAILED THE TAXPAYERS, PARENTS
AND CHILDREN OF GREENWICH?
The Failed Hamilton School Committee Members Are:
Frank Mazza
But It Is Not Just Frank Mazza And His Band Od Idiots That Are To Blame For The Repeated Disasters And Cost Over Runs At The Failed Hamilton Avenue School Building Project.
There Are A Host Of Ex-Officio Members To The Failed Hamilton Avenue Building Committee Who Saw That Frank Mazza And His Band Of Idiots Were Mis-Leading Taxpayers And Parents, But They Said Nothing. They Had Inside Information, But Choose "To Go Along To Get Along" Instead Of Protecting The Children Of Greenwich.
Ex-Officio Members To The Failed Hamilton Avenue Building Committee Who Were So Worried About Frank Mazza And Forgot All About Their Nieghbors Who Are Now Stuck Paying The Bill Are:
Peter J. Crumbine (Selectman)
pcrumbine@greenwichct.org
PTA
Alica Budkins
abudkins@optonline.net
Architects
Roger L. Klein
klein.r@shca.com
Project Manager
Anyone Of These Hamilton Avenue Building Committee Seat Warmers Could Of Spoken Up And Saved Greenwich Taxpayers Millions Of Dolars, But They Chose To Turn A Blind Eye To The Children Of Greenwich.
HOWEVER THESE VERY QUIET INDIVIDUALS
ARE NOT ULTIMATELY TO BLAME
The Greenwich Board Of Education are soley responsible for making decisions that have put taxpayers in a bind and caused many of their children to fail. Which leads reasonable Greenwich residents to ask one simple question......
What Were Nancy Weissler And The Other
Negligent School Board Members Thinking?????
One Of the failed school board members was replaced in the last school election. If those who remain had any decency they would simply quit.
Who's Still there?
At best, this board of education was a sllep at the switch while two Greenwich Public Schools were closed and test scores rapidly droped.
Again, they need to go.
Aleady gone, but not soon enough is School Superintendent Betty Sternberg who will be leaving in June Of next year. Over and over Ms. Sternberg and her failed administrators in the public school system repeatedly gave Greenwich parents and taxpayers rosey assessments.
Never once did Nancy Weisller and her fellow negligent board members once question the preposterously rosy assesments from Sternberg or Mazza.
What were they thinking ?????
There should be no mistake where the responsibility resides.
That would be with the Greenwich School Board members
- and Nancy Weissler in particular.
AND NOW HERE IS TODAY'S HARD HITTING LOCAL
GREENWICH TIME EDITORIAL:
As we all know - or should - the first Thanksgiving was celebrated among colonists and Indians in Plymouth who shared an abundant meal to celebrate the harvest and their fellowship. (Yes, historians disagree about when and where European settlers first held a ceremony of thanks; that won't be argued here.)
But it was George Washington who declared the first official, national day of Thanksgiving in 1789, when he stated: "I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the Beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be ..."
It was Abraham Lincoln in 1863 who declared the last Thursday in November as a national day of Thanksgiving, and Franklin D. Roosevelt who changed it to the fourth Thursday in November.
It is fitting that this most uniquely American holiday is so closely tied to the nation's three unequivocally great presidents. This is a day that defines America, as each of those men did in his own way.
But though Lincoln was the most eloquent of our presidents, some of the most soaring oratory about this particular day came from Roosevelt. That should come as little surprise, however. FDR was a master of the language in his own right.
What he had to say about Thanksgiving is worth pondering, especially this year when so many of the great challenges we face mirror those of Roosevelt's time. He spoke to what is best about ..... BLAH ..... BLAH ...... BLAH ...... BLAH ...... BLAH ....... BLAH ....... BLAH .......
SPEAKING OF THANKS GIVING DINNERS.....
SHAME, SHAME, SHAME
ON GREENWICH ROUNDUP
I should have mentioned that Harvest Time Church Is Having A Thanksgiving Dinner For Those Who Would Like To Spend Thanksgiving With Others. I Should Have Mentioned This Wonderful Community Event Earlier This Week.
Personally, I Am Going With A 78 Year Old Greenwich Farmer Who Was Recently Made Homeless As Greenwich Social Services Turned A Blind Eye During This Very Cold Month Of November.
Fortunately, For The Poor, Homeless, Disadvantaged And Recently Unemployed There Are Houses Of Worship Like Harvest Time Church That Provide Vital Community Services To The Town At No Cost To The Taxpayer.
During These Tough Economic Times The Town Of Greenwich Is Going To Need It's Religious Institutions More And More To Help And Provide Those In Trouble. These Church Buildings Are More Than Houses Of Worship They Are Places Of Refuge That Greenwich Families Can Call Upon When Troubles Visit Their Homes.
PLEASE SEE:
Rell worried about jobless fund
HARTFORD - Gov. M. Jodi Rell warned Wednesday that if the state's rising unemployment rate increases much further, Connecticut might not have enough money to pay jobless benefits.
MORE THANKSGIVING NEWS FROM THE GREENWICH TIME:
Some find dinner in the great outdoorsNot everyone gets their Thanksgiving turkey the same way in Connecticut. With a booming population of wildtur keys roaming the state, the Department of Environmental Protection said many people choose to hunt their own birds to prepare for the annual feast.
Expats make their own traditionWhite rice with barberries. Gratin dauphinois. Cheesecake. Paella. While these foods don't have the Thanksgiving ring of turkey, stuffing or mashed potatoes, they'll be served on tables throughout Greenwich Thursday as the town's expatriate community embraces one of the year's most American holidays - and one of life's most universal messages.
Holiday season's first 10 cases presentedThe cases: All families are feeling the effects of the current economic crunch. For those scraping to make ends meet before, conditions have only worsened.
New Witherell chef has trial by fireToday's Thanksgiving feast will be the first meal that Nathaniel Witherell's new executive chef, Clinton Gee, will make for the nursing home's residents.
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