New Beech Street Elementary School hits roadblock with Aldermanic vote

MANCHESTER, N.H. – Thanks to a tie-breaking vote from Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais, forward progress on a proposed new Beech Street Elementary School has been postponed until the Manchester School District can provide additional information on the school and its impact on nearby inner-city parkland to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen.

One of the key parts of Phase 1 in the district’s facilities plan, the new Beech Street Elementary School would be placed across the street from the current Beech Street Elementary School at the current location of Sheridan-Emmett Park and house the students of Beech Street and the recently closed Henry E. Wilson Elementary School several blocks to the east.

In order for this to occur, the board would have to approve the partial release of deed by Amoskeag Industries, the owner of the lot, and accept a letter describing the primary purpose and ancillary activities on the new lot to ensure that the restrictions on the land by Amoskeag being used only for schools or parks would be respected. There would also need to be an authorization for the change in use of the land from park to school use and an acceptance of the scope building expectations to be funded in the already appropriated $306 million Phase 1 bond funding.

If these measures passed, it is expected that the school district would then donate the land currently hosting Beech Street Elementary School as new park land for the city. It was also indicated that basketball courts would be placed at the new park land and playground equipment would be placed either at the new park or one block over at Sheehan-Basquil Park.

Over an hour of public comment earlier in the board’s meeting was largely focused on opposition to the proposal, citing general concerns about property tax rates in the city. Manchester School District Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Chmiel attempted to refute these concerns by noting that the money for the bonding in Phase 1 came from state adequate aid funding, but there were also concerns that the money could be better spent toward non-facilities related funding and that renovation of schools was a more effective approach than building new schools.

“You guys could have done this so much better so much cheaper so much more efficiently,” said Alderman At-Large Joseph Kelly Levasseur.

Ward 8 Alderman Ed Sapienza in particular voiced frustration with the funding issue after receiving information that students at the Manchester School of Technology slated to learn how to build houses on plots of land in his ward would not have the funds to do so, which Chmiel said was delayed due to a lack of teachers to oversee the project.

Sapienza also repeated concerns he has made in recent months regarding the lack of information around Phase 2 of the facilities plan, which was supposed to be revealed earlier this year but Chmiel now said would be revealed at the Dec. 8 Board of School Committee meeting.

One key issue with Phase 2 was the future of Manchester’s high schools, an issue where Sapienza was joined by several other members of the board. In Phase 1, funding was allocated to designate three potential sites for Manchester’s public high schools: the three current sites as well as next to the current Beech Street Elementary and behind Gill Stadium and JFK Coliseum.  This led to rumors that Manchester West or Manchester Central High School may close, with Chmiel stating on Tuesday night that there would not be a new high school on Beech Street and West would not close. However, Levasseur asked why this rumor was not addressed earlier, leading to additional concerns over transparency from the Aldermen regarding school district intentions.

Levasseur also voiced concerns that the new school would lead to a more expensive city once bonds related to the projects matured, with Ward 3 Alderman Pat Long responding that local business leaders felt that investment in the city’s schools was vital to its economic future.

There were also concerns about the transposed park area that would take the place of the current Beech Street Elementary School, with fears that a walking track in the current park would not be replaced. Ward 11 Alderman Norm Vincent expressed concerns that the flexibility of proposals regarding the new park represented a level of uncertainty and Ward 1 Alderman Chris Morgan noted that significant amounts of money had been donated for the basketball courts at Sheridan-Emmett Park and two quickly constructed courts in the replacement park would not be equivalent.

When it came to a vote, Ward 7 Alderman Ross Terrio asked if the decision could be tabled, a motion that failed on a 12-2 vote. Terrio was only joined by Ward 12 Alderwoman Kelly Thomas in supporting that motion.

A subsequent vote to approve the land swap and related plans for the new school was deadlocked in a 7-7 tie. Morgan, Vincent, Terrio, Thomas, Ed Sapienza and Levasseur were joined by Ward 6 Alderman Crissy Kantor in opposition. The measure was supported by Long as well as Ward 2 Alderman Dan Goonan, Ward 4 Alderwoman Christine Fajardo, Ward 5 Alderman Tony Sapienza, Ward 9 Alderman Jim Burkush, Ward 10 Alderman Bill Barry and Alderman At-Large Dan O’Neil.

Given the concerns expressed during the meeting up to that point, Ruais cast the deciding vote against the motion in order to obtain more information before a decision could be reached at a future date.

This is not the first time that the Aldermen sought to slow down the Beech Street Elementary momentum, following a pause request in January.

Manchester Board of School Committee Vice Chair Jim O’Connell released the following statement after the vote.

I am very disappointed that the BoMA voted against the building of the new Beech Street school. Contrary to previous statements and promises Mayor Ruais cast the deciding vote to stop the project from moving forward. This is a sad day for the children of Manchester’s inner city. This decision will result in significant additional costs to taxpayers because much of the design is already complete and paid for. The delay from tonight will cause a knock-on effect of delaying the building of this school which is needed to replace Henry Wilson students as well as the current Beech Street kids.

This decision also puts at risk hundreds and hundreds of high paying trade jobs in the city of Manchester over the coming three years. Local businesses including Harvey Construction stand to lose $80m.

This project had the support of the business community of Manchester including entrepreneur Dean Kamen. Once again the board of Mayor and Alderman fails the students and families of Manchester.  This retrograde decision will have a chilling effect on the reputation of our city as a place that is ready to invest in its future.