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Date: 10/11/2022
CHICOPEE – Members of the School Committee discussed updates to the Chicopee Public Schools’ search for a new administrative home during their Oct. 5 meeting.
The Chicopee school department moved their offices to a leased property on 134 Dulong Circle in August 2021 after deeming the Helen O’Connell Administration Offices on 180 Broadway aged and unsafe. The Helen O’Connell building has since been classified as a surplus property that is now under the city’s ownership. The space could either be sold or repurposed by the city once the building’s ventilation systems are improved.
Currently, the department pays $280,200 annually for the Dulong Circle property as a part of their five-year lease agreement.
Interim Superintendent Alvin Morton shared that the district began searching for a permanent location soon after the lease agreement. During a June 15 School Committee meeting, Morton revealed that former MassMutual Learning and Conference Center location on 350 Memorial Dr. is under consideration as a potential property for administrative offices.
“At the end of the five-year lease, we don’t know where we are going to go … One of the first things when we got Dulong, the next question is what’s next for a permanent location. We have been looking, and one of those places is the MassMutual building at this point and time,” said Morton.
Morton explained that the current proposal would split the building between administration offices and community services.
“MassMutual is about 75,000 square feet … There is one side that would be the school side, and we were also looking at the community-lean on the other side by bringing outside agencies that would have wraparound services within the community,” said Morton.
Some of the community-centric ideas Morton proposed were the involvement of organizations such as River Valley Counseling Center, the Department of Children and Families and local adult special education programs. He also revealed that the full-size kitchen located inside the space could be used for senior lunches.
A majority of the spending for a new administrative home would come from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds dispensed to the district from the coronavirus pandemic.
During the Oct. 5 School Committee discussion, Ward 7 School Committee member Donald Lamothe shared that the Facilities Subcommittee discussed the matter during their Sept. 29 meeting. Lamothe said the subcommittee agreed to organize a tour so that School Committee members can learn more about the former MassMutual space.
“We asked that we get set up for some sort of tour so that the rest of the School Committee can tour the building,” said Lamothe.
Ward 4 School Committee member Sandra Peret shared her support for the subcommittee’s initiative. Peret originally expressed opposition during the June 15 meeting due to concerns about the space being too large for the school department’s needs. She also took issue with the fact that the committee had yet to have a chance to tour the property.
With the new development, Peret said she looks forward to considering the MassMutual property as a potential solution.
“I look forward to having a tour of the building to see what it physically looks like,” said Peret.
The School Committee meets again on Oct. 19. The committee will also being collaborating with the City Council’s Education Subcommittee during an Oct. 13 meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the City Hall auditorium.
Superintendent Search Focus Group sessions
Additionally, Mayor John Vieau announced several focus group sessions for the city’s ongoing superintendent search. The focus group meetings are designed to gain an understanding of what the public wants and expects from the process.
Focus group sessions include an Oct. 15 gathering at the Chicopee Comprehensive High School at 10 a.m. in the teacher’s cafeteria, Oct. 17 meetings at the school district’s Central Administrative Office and Chicopee High School and Oct. 18 gatherings at Chicopee Comprehensive High School. Readers can find all the listed times at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1p2OVUrIst2fUON8VY16QfoOulMv1TZ1a/view?fbclid=IwAR226RCXWv3Nw7hrPRd-FVg8A3GzmdhpQbXFi7ODUApfbhaXiZtj6bAHci0.
Members of the public can also complete an online survey. An English survey can be found at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/XPHNS9K, while a Spanish survey is present at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/QQ98XFV.
Readers can learn more about the focus group sessions at Chicopee Public School’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063723542962.