The Bridgeport (Connecticut) school board has voted in favor of plans to replace a handful of dilapidated buildings with a $125 million pre-K-8 school and a $75 million center for special education.
The Connecticut Post reports that the proposed construction projects hinge on the availability of state funding; the board directed district staff members to apply for grants to help cover much of the costs.
The proposed elementary school would be built at the site of the old Harding High School and serve students who now attend Beardsley, Edison and Hall schools, decades-old neighborhood schools that officials have said are in states of disrepair.
A special education center would replace the soon-to-be-vacant Skane School and would enable the district to save millions in tuition costs by educating some students who are now sent out of the district.
The two proposed schools were among the recommendations in a recent facilities study that urged the district to shutter seven school buildings, construct four new ones and perform major renovations on eight others.
The study found the district’s aging infrastructure needs more than $700 million in repairs and other upgrades, but that the school system may be able to save money by replacing several run-down buildings with new state-of-the-art facilities.
Interim Superintendent Royce Avery, however, has said the cash-strapped school system must first secure funding for new buildings before it formally signs off on a proposal to shutter any existing facilities.
