EWG construction bond is underway

Over the summer, trucks were spotted in and around the EWG High School. This was the first look at the construction of the high school’s HVAC system. This has not been all, though. More improvements are planned and have yet to be started. EWG’s road to construction has been long, and it is nowhere near over yet.

There are many layers to the path to approval, working with architects and designers to make a plan, proposing this to the town councils, and then heading to the state for final approval to start construction. Once approval is granted, our district has to work further with architects and contractors to start construction with as little delay as possible. With a total of seventeen other schools across the state making improvements as well, it is important to get ahead in line.

Throughout each step of the process, full consideration has been given to EWG’s mission—to help students to graduate with competitive skills necessary to thrive in the twenty-first century.

The success of the school district is a symbiotic relationship with the success of the town.

Finance Director Bob Ross

Planning began 4 years ago, in 2018, when the state offered grants for school districts to make improvements. They also offered potential incentives of getting possible bonus reimbursements of a minimum of $0.61 back for every dollar the community spends. With this motivation and a recent survey done of the school, they decided that actions needed to be taken to make these desired improvements.

• 

• 

• 

• 

The first step to planning construction was figuring out what improvements and additions would be made. Surveys were sent out to the community about what their dream schools looked like. School administrators took all the information learned and proposed a plan with these improvements. As anticipated, this plan was sent back for review due to its high cost, around $95 million. The next step was to figure out what needed to be done and what would add most to the school.

The process was long, but once they figured out a balance between necessary and exciting additions, a new plan was proposed. This revised plan brought the cost down from about $95 million to about $17 million. Once it was passed by the town councils, it traveled as far as the state to go under review again.

Not all improvements are proposed at once. The administration has created a list where one item is proposed and then worked on, and once construction starts, another item is proposed. They have created a plan so that construction can hopefully get done as quickly as possible. The HVAC system improvements were sent and approved by the state first to ensure that once students got out of school at the end of last year, construction would be able to start. All summer long and into the beginning of the school year, teams worked on the system. This was one of the most important parts of the safe package of construction, as keeping students warm during winter and improving the air filtration system was a dire need. The next safety improvement made will move to our other schools in the district, Wawaloam and Metcalf, whose roofs will need to be replaced. The proposals for work on the roofs were sent while construction on the HVAC system was taking place. The process will continue in this manner—as one project is under construction, another is proposed. 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

There are many items on the list for construction, including the almost finished updates to the HVAC, fixing the roofs of Wawaloam and Metcalf, updating the science classrooms and greenhouse at the High School so they have the newest technology and equipment, improving the Junior/Senior High auditorium, including sound and lighting fixtures, fixing the parking lots at the high school to change the flow of traffic and pave the junior lot, and the playground at Wawaloam to improve its accessibility in compliance with ADA mandates.  

Our own community members should have the opportunity to…take part in programs preparing them for what they want to do for the rest of their life.

Superintendent James Erinakes

All of these improvements work to improve accessibility, to replace outdated equipment, and to bring new additions to programs for students. When describing the plan, Superintendent Erinakes and Finance Director Bob Ross both call it “a mixture of the necessary and the fun.” The high school’s performing arts and science departments’ programs are both going to be improved so that students can get the best and most realistic experience while in high school. The construction and plans are exciting, and once finished, will provide more for the EWG district to be proud of.

To hear the full interview with Superintendent Erinakes and Finance Director Ross, please tune in to our podcast. For more information, see the EWG TV video series which was produced in February, 2021.