http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20100925/NEWS02/709259880
Published September 25, 2010 in the Rutland Herald
Schools in violation of permits, town says
By Susan Smallheer
Staff Writer
SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield School District is in violation of its 2009 town permits to renovate and reconstruct its two elementary schools, according to the town’s zoning officer.
In a letter to the superintendent of schools, Frank Perotti, William Kearns outlined violations stemming from the construction projects at both Elm Hill and Union Street schools, which welcomed students to renovated classrooms earlier this month.
Kearns said that the school district never filed the required traffic report with the town’s Development Review Board, which was a condition of its March 2009 permit. He also said that the school district never notified the town office about the change in use of the two schools, which instead of both hosting K-5, are broken into K-2 at Elm Hill and Grades 3-5 at Union Street.
Kearns, who is a lawyer, said that changing the schools’ grades changed the traffic issues at both schools. Kearns also raised questions about the actual number of students at each school, and questioned whether the numbers were different than contained in the permit application back in 2009.
Since March 2009, voters have decided to close a third elementary school, Park Street School, and consolidate the town’s 600 elementary school students at Union Street and Elm Hill schools, both of which underwent massive renovation.
Kearns also said that traffic problems exist particularly at the Union Street School in the afternoon.
“The school district is in violation of the permit for each site,” he wrote to Perotti and the school directors last Friday. Copies of the letter were sent to neighbors of the two schools.
Kearns said this week that he hoped to work things out with the school district without filing formal violation notices, which trigger a strict schedule of addressing the violations.
Perotti said Friday he was rather taken aback at Kearns’ letter, which was also sent out under the name of Linda Rousse, the town’s longtime zoning administrator, who is semi-retired. The school district received the Kearns-Rousse letter on Monday. He immediately responded with his own letter, he said. He said he asked Kearns to rescind the violations.
“I asked him to sit down with us and go through this with us and come up with a response and to work out any issues,” said Perotti.
Perotti said the traffic study was not completed, but he said the school district was following the conditions set in its Act 250 land use permit. He also said that the school district was just doing its annual student attendance census, and would have enrollment figures in the next week or so.
And he said that the school district was refining its new bus routes in an effort to make the bus rides shorter for the students, which would affect the traffic situation at the two schools as well.
The superintendent said that the first couple of days at the renovated schools were a bit chaotic, traffic-wise, as most parents drove their students to school and walked their children to class to meet their teachers. But he said the opening-day traffic jams have disappeared, and student ridership on the buses has rebounded.
Perotti said that the school district would like the town to enforce a no-left-turn at the exit driveway at Union Street, since now the entering and exiting traffic run into each other, causing gridlock.
Kearns was unavailable Friday because he was participating in the statewide emergency drill, but Town Manager Robert Forguites said there was a “misunderstanding” between Perotti and Kearns.
“There are some issues Bill felt he hadn’t gotten the information he needed and Frank says he has it,” said Forguites.
“Everybody needs to sit down and straighten the thing out so it doesn’t become a bigger problem,” said the manager.
Schools in violation of permits, town says
By Susan Smallheer
Staff Writer
SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield School District is in violation of its 2009 town permits to renovate and reconstruct its two elementary schools, according to the town’s zoning officer.
In a letter to the superintendent of schools, Frank Perotti, William Kearns outlined violations stemming from the construction projects at both Elm Hill and Union Street schools, which welcomed students to renovated classrooms earlier this month.
Kearns said that the school district never filed the required traffic report with the town’s Development Review Board, which was a condition of its March 2009 permit. He also said that the school district never notified the town office about the change in use of the two schools, which instead of both hosting K-5, are broken into K-2 at Elm Hill and Grades 3-5 at Union Street.
Kearns, who is a lawyer, said that changing the schools’ grades changed the traffic issues at both schools. Kearns also raised questions about the actual number of students at each school, and questioned whether the numbers were different than contained in the permit application back in 2009.
Since March 2009, voters have decided to close a third elementary school, Park Street School, and consolidate the town’s 600 elementary school students at Union Street and Elm Hill schools, both of which underwent massive renovation.
Kearns also said that traffic problems exist particularly at the Union Street School in the afternoon.
“The school district is in violation of the permit for each site,” he wrote to Perotti and the school directors last Friday. Copies of the letter were sent to neighbors of the two schools.
Kearns said this week that he hoped to work things out with the school district without filing formal violation notices, which trigger a strict schedule of addressing the violations.
Perotti said Friday he was rather taken aback at Kearns’ letter, which was also sent out under the name of Linda Rousse, the town’s longtime zoning administrator, who is semi-retired. The school district received the Kearns-Rousse letter on Monday. He immediately responded with his own letter, he said. He said he asked Kearns to rescind the violations.
“I asked him to sit down with us and go through this with us and come up with a response and to work out any issues,” said Perotti.
Perotti said the traffic study was not completed, but he said the school district was following the conditions set in its Act 250 land use permit. He also said that the school district was just doing its annual student attendance census, and would have enrollment figures in the next week or so.
And he said that the school district was refining its new bus routes in an effort to make the bus rides shorter for the students, which would affect the traffic situation at the two schools as well.
The superintendent said that the first couple of days at the renovated schools were a bit chaotic, traffic-wise, as most parents drove their students to school and walked their children to class to meet their teachers. But he said the opening-day traffic jams have disappeared, and student ridership on the buses has rebounded.
Perotti said that the school district would like the town to enforce a no-left-turn at the exit driveway at Union Street, since now the entering and exiting traffic run into each other, causing gridlock.
Kearns was unavailable Friday because he was participating in the statewide emergency drill, but Town Manager Robert Forguites said there was a “misunderstanding” between Perotti and Kearns.
“There are some issues Bill felt he hadn’t gotten the information he needed and Frank says he has it,” said Forguites.
“Everybody needs to sit down and straighten the thing out so it doesn’t become a bigger problem,” said the manager.
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