Schools

Ledyard Center School Parents Attend Forum on School's Future

The school was slated to close if the middle school renovation was approved by residents but not that that was scrapped, what do you think?


Superintendent of Schools Dr. Michael Graner met with parents at Ledyard Center School late last week to talk about the vision for the public school district, which may or may not include the closing of LCS.  

As many Patch readers know, LCS was slated to close if residents voted in favor of the middle school renovation project. The closure of LCS was a key component in keeping the project more affordable. Ultimately, the project was rescinded from the May referendum and many parents expressed concern.

See these articles for background:  
Walls Now, Windows Later in Middle School; Sixth Grade Transition Postponed
School Board Hears Costs, Approves of Middle School Renovation Project

Graner had to repeat a couple times this was public information and not a “dark and shady plot” by the town or the Board of Education to close a school under everyone’s nose.  

The middle school renovation won’t be on the May ballot but will likely be on November’s ballot, hoped Graner and the notion that the LCS will close, whether sooner or later, has got a lot of folks in town worried.  

Parents are concerned for a variety of reasons and business owners in Ledyard Center are concerned that they will lose out of the daily business they get from parents dropping off and picking up students.  

Graner held a meeting to explain the events up to now and to solicit feedback from parents. The meeting broke into groups of about 14 people for discussion and groups convened again to share their concerns.  

Here’s a roundup of most of the concerns mentioned:

  • Biggest concerns were that class size would go up, where would the LCS students go, and what is the long-term plan for the town and the schools? 
  • Are there enough classrooms in the district to accommodate the Ledyard Center School students? Will there be enough room for all the specials? 
  • Would the district need to re-district? Will they have to cut the town in half? 
  • Will there be any room for growth? 
  • Where will the teachers go? Will there be teacher layoffs? 
  • Will Ledyard be less attractive is there are fewer small schools?
  • Parents said pre-kindergarten was misplaced and should be in an elementary school. 
  • How much would demolishing LCS cost compare to renovating it? 
  • What will that do to this town knowing that a lot of businesses rely on traffic brought to town by the school? 
  • Parents said having an empty building in the center of school wouldn’t help the town. "School buildings don't sell well and who thinks this is a good site for a business," asked one of the attendees.
The groups seemed to agree that they wouldn’t miss the building per se but some of the intangibles, like a sense of community.  

"If it goes, that goes. We can never get that sense of family and community back again,” said one parent.


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