Magnet School Backed, Questioned

The Trumbull Chamber of Commerce president backed the proposed interdistrict magnet school in Fairchild Memorial Park while the town planner raised numerous concerns, from traffic to environmental impacts.

"The Bridgeport Regional Business Council has voted unanimously to support the school. The business council leadership has supported this since its inception," said Karen DelVecchio, BRBC executive vice president and the executive director of the Trumbull Chamber of Commerce. She spoke recently at the second session of the proposal's public hearing, which lasted three hours.

Town Planner Bill Levin had reservations. "Is this the right site for such a school?", he asked.

The proposed school, off Quarry Road in the south side of town, would house 1,500 students from grades 9-12 in three different science magnets, or areas of study.

Bridgeport officials have hailed the proposed school as the greenest school in the state that would prepare students for the 21st century job market. The state would also fund the school's $126 million construction cost, making it the most expensive school in Connecticut.

But building it would require daily blasting, grading and transporting truckloads of dirt from the site for 12 weeks, Levin said.

It also hurts wetlands and vegetation, and presents emergency and utility issues because of its isolated woods location.

"I think it's worth asking again about other possible sites," he said, adding that Trumbull should have been consulted in a site search since Trumbull students would make up part of the student body. Bridgeport students would make up 70 percent of the school.

He also called for an independent traffic report and questioned if Bridgeport would provide all emergency services for the site as promised. No contract has been signed guaranteeing that, he said.

Megan Raymond, a senior ecologist from William Kenny Associates LLC, spoke next, saying the overall quality and quantity of habitat would decline if the school were built there.

Board member Arlyne Fox worried about disease-carrying ticks and mosquitoes. "I am truly concerned about the health and welfare of the children at this site," she said.

Ed Gratrix, chief of the Trumbull Volunteer Fire Company, had his own list of concerns, including that the Town Charter makes Trumbull responsible for fire safety of the school.

But an attorney for Bridgeport had said that a water pipe would be built for fire protection and to service the school, saving Trumbull the time and the $1 million-price tag.

Before all the concerns were raised, engineers working on the proposal defended it, saying that neighbors would be shielded from the school's lights and traffic. Traffic would not be a problem, they added.

The next hearing regarding the school will be held Nov. 17 in Town Hall.