The fate of the Sandy Hook Elementary School could be decided as early as today.
The Sandy Hook Task Force will consider the recommendations at a special meeting in Newtown tonight.
After multiple meetings and much discussion, the Sandy Hook Task Force has narrowed it’s options from 40 plans down to two plans for the new Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Since the December 14th, 2012 tragedy in Newtown, the students from Sandy Hook have been attending classes at the Chalk Hill School in Monroe. The students’ belongings were brought over from their old building in Newtown to help ease the transition, and the school was even renamed Sandy Hook Elementary. Hundreds of volunteers helped transform the building into a bright and happy space.
Now, as Newtown continues to move forward, the Sandy Hook Task Force will meet tonight to discuss it’s options for the new elementary school. The first option is to use the exisiting 12.2 acre school site at 12 Riverside Road. That is the current location of the school building, but the plan doesn’t necessarily include using the existing building. The building would have a different orientation and look, even if it only gets renovated. Estimates for this option range in the 40 million dollar range.
The second option is to use a nearby six acre site at 28 Riverside Road, also know as the Sac Field. That land would be combined with another nearby property and a new structure would be built there. Estimates for this option have been somewhat higher than the first because of the cost to aquire the land.
Both plans include using a different access road, which is currently Dickinson Drive.
The Sandy Hook Task Force will decide on the location, then the Board of Education will work on the design of the building.