REGIONAL

Tri-town voters approved $5.8 million for the remediation of the outbreak of mold at John Winthrop Middle School (JWMS) at a referendum on March 26 by a collective yes to no vote margin of 1129 to 597.

Voters in Essex overwhelmingly voted “yes” by a margin of 503-162, a count that includes absentee ballots. Voters in Chester voted “yes” by a margin of 308-172 with nine absentee ballots. Voters in Deep River voted “yes” by a margin of 318-263, a count that includes 25 absentee ballots.

The $5.8 million will go toward mold remediation, dehumidification, and repairs to internal systems at JWMS, including heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. These systems were discovered by engineering and environmental consultants to be improperly installed and inefficient in their operation, thus identified as the likely root cause of the mold outbreak that forced JWMS students to relocate to Valley Regional High School (VRHS) in September 2023.

The remediation effort is now the third major project on the Region 4 School District’s plate. The other two are the upgrades to athletic facilities at both VRHS and JWMS and the construction of a security vestibule at the middle school.

In an article published in the Valley Courier on March 21, Superintendent Brian White spoke of the district’s confidence in the financial feasibility of seeing through all three projects in a way that will have a short-term impact on the education budget for the Tri - town region. This confidence is backed up by the district’s municipal advisors, Phoenix Advisors, which agreed these projects could be worked on simultaneously over a multi-year period and in a way that affects the budget as little as possible from fiscal years 2025 to 2028.

In a letter to district staff and families, White said the administration, himself, and venders “proceed with the work authorized by the referendum as quickly as possible with a goal of having this work accomplished for the start of the 2024 - 2025 school year.”

White said that, currently, The District is working with Arcadis,the District’s project management firm, to accomplish the goal of having our staff and students safely re enter JWMS next fall.“

The district will continue to work with its consultants, Arcadis and Phoenix Advisors on plans and timelines for the multiple projects on their plate.