Just received this letter to the editor from Portsmouth School Committee member Marge Levesque:

Why Elmhurst?

Elmhurst, like the other elementary schools in town, is blessed with wonderful students and families. The Elmhurst family is a particularly tightly knit and dedicated one. However, we now find ourselves with a large dilemma. We have a decline in our enrollment and we have a rapidly aging structure.

Now that some of the emotions have subsided, let us review this in a more rational manner. The Elmhurst building is deteriorating, as noted in the Performance Audit of 2008 and the Comprehensive Facility Report of this year. Both documents state there is a need to address major physical plant issues at Elmhurst and a lack of code compliance, such as the Fire Code and ADA (American with Disabilities Act). Both documents also advise the district to think long and hard before investing any more money into the Elmhurst physical plant. There are safety concerns as well as code violations. I will not attempt to list all of them as you can read them yourself on the PSD website. [Ed. Note: URL added]

The safety issues range from difficulty with egress, inadequate lighting, electricity and the deterioration of floors and walls. The egress difficulty was noted in the cafeteria, gymnasium and art room. For another example, the IT Director noted some computers “fried” even though they were protected with surge protectors. Some walls do not meet the ceiling which becomes a smoke hazard. Floor tiles are coming up in several areas and the list only goes on from there.

The building also has ADA infractions. The entrance and the hallways are of several different levels. The bathroom fixtures, water fountains and phones are not ADA compliant. I am sure that some of you are thinking, what does this have to do with us? Not only is ADA the law, but take a moment to think about it this way: suppose that your child ended up on crutches? The stairs and the different levels as well as the bathroom fixtures become an issue.

The price tag for just the items that need to be done immediately is $1,450,905. The cost to make the changes needed d in the next 1-5 years to keep Elmhurst open indefinitely is $5,609,108. The total to upgrade Hathaway is $3 million, and the repair cost for the repairs needed in 1-5 years at Melville is $1.7 million.

Another district, Middletown, has already moved their 4th and 5th grades to the middle school with no apparent issues. Portsmouth Middle School is set up in such a way that the lower grades are separate from the older students. The only areas of possible contact are the nurse’s office and the general office, and these can be addressed. We are currently looking at the bussing situation. The students will be boarded and unloaded in a separate area of the middle school; fourth and fifth graders will be seated at the front of the bus; and we will have bus monitors.

Now why are we in such a hurry? Besides not wanting to pay for upgrades we would not be using, we need our facility plan to be approved in concept by the council and then sent up to the Department of Education. The hurry on this is that very soon the state might not give the housing reimbursement we are in line to receive. This is thirty percent of the construction related work provided we have utilized all available space. In other words, we need to maximize our school use and get our general facility plan approved in concept; otherwise we lose the reimbursement money. In addition, the funding proposal
from the Education Commissioner would devastate Portsmouth’s budget as well most other suburban and rural communities.

We realize that this seemed to come up quickly. But just by way of explanation, we had discussed this in 2008 as part of the performance audit and again during the last school year, when we also discussed the closing of the Prudence Island School. At that time, some Elmhurst parents asked for one more year, just as Prudence Islanders had asked for more time in the past. We closed Prudence with the assistance of the Prudence community working with us. We are hoping to make this transition a smooth one as well. We will be looking for transition team volunteers.

Next year will certainly be different for everyone. But different can also be positive. This change would help align curriculum and offer the younger students a greater variety of after schools activities. I hope that when the dust settles that we can all work together and make our new school communities come together and continue to enrich the lives and education of our children.

Marge Levesque is a member of the Portsmouth School Committee.