The Region 4 School District is now preparing for a fall referendum on a school security project at John Winthrop Middle School (JWMS). After a unanimous vote by the Region 4 Board of Education (BOE) at its special meeting on Aug. 24, the question as to whether the district should appropriate $952,053 for the total cost of the project is now up to citizens in Chester, Deep River and Essex.

The question could potentially be placed on the same ballot that is used for the municipal election on Nov. 2, Region 4 BOE Chair Kate Sandmann said at the meeting.

If voters approve funding for the project, construction could begin during the summer of 2022 with a goal of completion by late August, according to Rusty Malik, a principal architect from the Farmington-based design firm QA+M Architecture.

By its design, said Malik, the project will not “disrupt education as school starts to operate again in September of 2022” if there are construction delays.

The availability of certain materials and escalating costs resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic are two variables that have the potential to affect the project, he said.

“One of the challenges we may face is that steel, not only has the cost escalated, but the delivery has been delayed on most projects,” said Malik, adding that the same is true of other materials.

“Steel and deck and doors and windows, all of that will be something that we’ll have to vet all the way through the design process to make sure that it’s available,” said Malik.

The total cost of the project has gone up from initial estimates in January of $825,000 to $952,053.

Asked by a board member about contingency for materials, Malik said, “I think we were at 5 percent and then we went up to 10 percent just because...the market is so unpredictable at this point.”

As a school security upgrade, approximately 47.14 percent of the project costs are eligible for state reimbursement, according to Malik. After reimbursement, the net cost of the project is $569,970 with Region 4’s portion of reimbursement at $382,083.

“This [reimbursement] process, I mean, it takes a while,” said Malik. “You have to go through the grant application process and at the end of the project you have to go through an audit process to get your final payments, but it’s a safe number to use.”

A plan for how the project will be financed is currently being worked out, with details anticipated from the Region 4 BOE in the weeks ahead.

Essex First Selectman Norman Needleman, who was the lone commenter in the public hearing portion of the Aug. 24 meeting, discussed how it would be beneficial to borrow funds for a project of this size, as opposed to bonding, which requires additional administrative expenses.

“I encourage everybody not to consider bonding for this,” said Needleman. “It’s the wrong way to go. There will be a point in the next few years where we’re going to look to go to the bond market and we’re going to have to spend a considerable amount of money to prepare for that.

“My recommendation is that we find a more conventional means of financing this, interest only, until we roll this into a bond as the other bond debt [in the district] comes off,” he continued.

The need for enhanced security measures at JWMS has been discussed for several years, with a school security advisory committee recommending the installation of a double door at the main entrance of the school in 2018.

With changeover at the administrative level and a budget freeze in 2019, the project was revived in 2020 with an ad hoc committee working with QA+M Architecture to analyze various options.

At the committee’s recommendation, the design, otherwise known as “option 2” was adopted by the BOE at its Jan. 7, 2021 regular meeting.

This option encompasses the addition of a secure vestibule where visitors can be checked in and out by staff at the main office, an exterior staircase, and an access ramp by the flagpole entrance of the school.

“It’s probably the simplest approach to this project,” said Malik. “We had multiple discussions with the state and showed them the various options.

“They agreed that this was the right approach to take with the securing of the main entrance to the building,” he continued.

A web page for the security project is available on the district’s website, www.reg4.k12.ct.us.