The City Council meeting Tuesday night offered a cornucopia of topics for any observer to absorb. Here are the highlights of a very lengthy meeting.
The Board of Education presented its plan for reorganizing the district, the Council passed its first Project Labor Agreement, the police chief summarized crime statistics and addressed a recent trend involving thefts at gas stations, and during the public participation speakers addressed flag raisings and a recent shooting on Main St.
Board of Education presents Reimagining Bristol Public Schools 2023
Dr. Kate Carbone, Superintendent of Bristol Schools, presented an outline of the Board’s plan to reimagine the school system in two phases from the 2022-23 school year for Phase I to the 2025-26 school year for Phase II.
The Board had studied multiple proposals for school closing/conversions, new construction, additions and improvements, and grade re-organizations that also included asking for feedback from parents and staff. After over 18 months of study, workshops, and questionnaires, Reimagining BPS 2023 was the final result.
The goals of the plan were the following:
- Equity: Better balance socio-economic diversity across the schools.
- Efficiency and Parity: Align enrollment with school capacities to better balance utilization and student class sizes.
- High Quality Education: Increase access to full-day Pre K and adopt consistent grade configurations between schools.
Phase I-to take place in the fall of 2022
In Phase I, Edgewood school would be converted to a Pre-K only school. Existing students from Edgewood will be assigned to other K-5 schools.
The lines for attendance at other K-5 schools will be adjusted to improve equity and parity.
To see the attendance lines for each school, go the the Bristol Board of Education website.
Phase II planned for start of 2025 school year
The implementation of Phase II is contingent on completion of a new Northeast Middle School to be built on the site of the current Northeast School grounds.
The new Northeast would be larger and would share Middle School assignments with Chippens Hill.
West Bristol and Greene-Hills schools would transition from K-8 to K-5 schools, creating a uniform grade configuration across all the elementary schools in town. Middle school attendance zones for Northeast and Chippens Hill will match the high school boundaries for Bristol Eastern and Bristol Central.
Additional changes will then be made to attendance zones throughout the district to again improve equity and parity.
The price for the entire proposal is estimated now to be $110 million. That includes an estimate of $70.15 million for the new Northeast School and $7.8 million and $10.78 million to renovate Edgewood and Stafford Schools. Of the S110 million price tag, Bristol will be responsible for $38.5 million, which will go to bonding for the financing of the project.
In both Phase I and Phase II, no mention was made of the new Memorial Boulevard Arts Magnet School, but it was already announced that attendance at the magnet school will be voluntary and open to approximately 300 middle school and 300 high school students.
Leader of Coalition for the Preservation of Marriage and Innocence makes appeal to Council about flying Coalition’s flag
Mr. Tom Berrill appeared before the Council to repeat a request from last month’s City Council meeting that Bristol fly the flag of his coalition, just as the city had flown the Rainbow Flag during Pride Month. He and another gentleman spoke at length about the sanctity of marriage, and how it is being threatened by acceptance of the LGBT agenda in many cities, Bristol among them.
The two men said they are concerned about saving the souls of those who have strayed from God’s teachings, quoting primarily from the Old Testament. They claimed they had no hate for anyone, but said several times that they were worried about the souls of those who ignored their message.
Their request has been referred to the Public Works Department, which oversees building maintenance at City Hall, including the raising and lowering of the flag.
Resident Complains about lack of action regarding recent shootings
Mr. Steven Coan expressed his concern about recent shootings on Federal Hill, where he resides. He complained about the Police Department response, doing little to communicate with the neighborhood or the city at large. (In fact, one shooting, at Huntington Woods, has already had an arrest. The second shooting incident, near Main St., was reported by the police to media outlets, and is presently under investigation.)
Mayor Zoppo-Sassu replied to Mr. Coan that neither she nor any Councilor could comment on an ongoing police investigation.
City Council disagrees on the use of a Project Labor Agreement for the City Hall Renovation Project
The City Council split on whether to include a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) for the construction work being done for City Hall. A Project Labor Agreement is an agreement between the two sides in a contract in which the wages and fringe benefits on a project are specified. It usually bars Labor Unions from striking and contractors from locking out workers. A PLA generally requires contractors to hire union workers for the project.
Councilmen David Preleski and Scott Rosado expressed reservations about using a PLA, citing the possibility of increased costs and that the project was not large enough to require a PLA.
The remaining Council members, Brittany Barney, Greg Hahn, Peter Kelley and Mary Fortier, and the Mayor spoke in favor of a PLA, saying, in turn, that the agreement was a positive for Bristol, since it would require the contractor to hire a percentage of Bristol workers, including minorities, and females, for the project. It would also protect against delays, since work disputes would be off the table.
The Council voted 5-2 to include the Project Labor Agreement in the contract. The agreement is the first of its kind for Bristol.
Police report a rash of car break-ins at gas stations
Police Chief Brian Gould presented to the Council a report on the philosophy and goals of the Bristol Police Department. He also reported on crime trends in Bristol. Overall, he said the crime rate is low and stable.
One new development, however, is that Bristol and other area towns have seen a number of car break-ins while people are actually filling their car at a gas station.
Chief Gould explained that while the driver is concentrating on the fuel pump, the thief is opening the passenger door and lifting valuables in a matter of seconds.
The police have been in contact with all the stations involved and have discussed the best way to tackle the problem. Police surveillance will increase and Chief Gould explained that car owners can protect themselves by locking the car and keeping valuables out of sight.