Construction is underway at West Shore Middle School (Photo by Joseph Weathered)
By Brandon T. Bisceglia
Milford Public Schools Chief Operations Officer James Richetelli, Jr. came to the Milford Board of Education meeting Aug. 28 intent on convincing the board members that despite recent setbacks in the renovation of West Shore Middle School, the project would be finished ahead of schedule.
Board members, however, were skeptical.
The renovation, which began in March, is expected to last until 2018. In the meantime, some areas of the school will not be useable at all, while others are expected to be opened to students and then closed off again for more work.
Students at West Shore started classes three days later than the rest of the district so that city inspectors could give the go-ahead on the bare minimum number of classrooms – 25 – necessary to keep the school functioning.
When Richetelli told the board that the gym was set to open in January, board member Susan Krushinsky asked why it wasn’t opening in December, as she had previously been told.
Richetelli explained two of the largest setbacks involved asbestos that was found in the interior wall of the gym and in the floor tiles of the media center during demolition. Construction in those areas had to be halted for weeks until the asbestos could be cleared.
Richetelli was backed up in part by West Shore Principal Paul A. Cavanna, who was adamant that everything would work out when school opened.
“My teachers will deliver on Thursday, regardless of the challenges we face,” he said.
Cavanna fielded questions from board members who wondered how the staff would work around the lack of a media center or gym in the coming months. Media aides will be pushed into classrooms for the time being, while gym classes will be able to occupy the cafeteria most of the day.
Board member Thomas Jagodzinski expressed consternation over the delays.
“It seems like the project is constantly slipping,” he said.
Richetelli responded that unforeseeable circumstances like the asbestos remediation pushed some work behind “by no fault of anyone,” but that overall the project was on track to be finished ahead of schedule.