The Simsbury Board of Finance is hosting a public hearing next week on a $1M plan to buy a building to become a special education facility.
Patch Staff
SIMSBURY, CT — Taxpayers are being urged to attend a public hearing next week in Simsbury on a plan for the town to purchase a local office building for the school system.
If approved by the town, Simsbury Public Schools plans to convert the office building at 2 Farms Village Road, Simsbury, into a special education facility.
On Tuesday, Feb. 18, the Simsbury Board of Finance is hosting a public hearing on a proposed $1 million appropriation, to be taken out of the 2024-25 budget, for the purchase.
Once the hearing is closed, the finance board could take action on the appropriation.
The hearing will take place at 5:45 p.m. at Simsbury Town Hall in the main meeting room, 933 Hopmeadow St.
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If approved, the proposal would also require an additional $400,000 in spending to renovate the office building into a school facility, with new classrooms and an elevator needing to be installed, according to the town.
Members of the public are invited to come to the hearing and comment on the plan or they can email statements to [email protected] no later than noon on Tuesday, Feb. 18.
The school system is looking at the building purchase as a means to garner long-term savings within the board of education's special education budget.
Special education, according to a report filed by the local school system, is getting more and more expensive.
By doing special education in-house, according to the report, the local public school system said it expects to save as much as $500,000 annually by the third year after the building is purchased, with additional savings as time goes on.
When fully developed, the new building would have four classrooms designed to educate children with special needs, with two elementary-school level classrooms along with one middle and one high school classroom.
The new facility would educate up to 25 students, with Simsbury officials estimating up to 10 could be out of the district, meaning additional revenue to the local school system.
At its peak, the town estimates a $19.47 million special education budget under the current set-up.
But if Simsbury does its special education in-house, it could save $1.3 million annually once everything is up and running long-term.
For the complete Simsbury Board of Education report on the proposal, click on this link.
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