JCJ Architecture – District Utilization Study Update

The Middletown Eye has learned from Ryan Kennedy, member of the Board of Education, that JCJ’s fee for the District Study was $138,000. The BOE approved the spending of this amount at the November meeting from the insurance windfall account (this money was returned as overpayment funds when the District renegotiated its insurance coverage at a lower rate than previously paid).

Kennedy also commented that he believes that the immediate results of this study will save the Middletown School District possibly $150,000 in busing costs. Calling the study a “blank-slate approach,” meaning that the BOE does not have an end goal already in mind, Kennedy stated that he will have two things in mind when reviewing the final report: “first and most important making sure every student is treated equal, which includes every building will be equal in capacity. Second, we need to attempt to reduce the number of buses we use, which will save us money as well [as] reduce the amount of diesel air pollution.”

As previously reported, JCJ has been charged by the BOE to engage multiple stakeholders during its evaluation process. The first on-site meetings are scheduled for Macdonough and Moody next week: Moody’s meeting will be held at 6pm on Wednesday, March 25th, and MacDonough’s meeting is scheduled for 6pm on Thursday, March 26th.

In recent days, several BOE members have expressed concern that the BOE has neither seen JCJ’s project timeline nor been updated on the project status. Considering the fact that JCJ’s report on the overcrowding at Moody is due in May, the lack of available information on the project’s progress has prompted BOE members Corinne Gill, Sheila Daniels and Ryan Kennedy to request this topic be added to the BOE’s agenda for the April meeting. Kennedy will also request that a JCJ representative attend the April BOE meeting as well.