GRANVILLE – The majority of the residents of Granville that attended Monday night’s meeting haven’t changed their minds when it comes to the FY (Fiscal Year) 18 capital improvement plan that the Southwick-Tolland-Granville regional school district had proposed.
Superintendent Jen Willard. (WNG File Photo)
In the midst of the special town meeting at the Granville Village School on Monday, Granville voted 57-32 in favor of once again disapproving the school district’s capital improvement plan. Granville residents previously voted down the proposal 34-4 at their annual town meeting on May 8.
As a result of that vote, Superintendent Jen Willard said that the district will not have any capital borrowing capacity for the upcoming school year for any of their capital improvement funds.
“We don’t know the direction we’ll be in for capital borrowing until September,” said Willard.
Willard added that one possible option to explore in the fall would be to have a majority ballot vote for all three towns in the school district. This means that if two of the three communities in the district approve the plan, it passes through.
The decision at the special town meeting is a disappointment to school district administrators as Willard said that the vote doesn’t help with the busing situation for Granville students for the 2017-18 school year. According to Willard, $200,000 of the $600,000 FY18 capital improvement plan was going to help towards mid-size buses that would transport Granville students to and from the Southwick campus.
“The vote impacts children,” said Willard. “When anything negatively impacts children, I’m very disappointed.”
With the expectation that if the district decides to go with a majority ballot vote in September that it will pass in Southwick and Tolland.
Granville Select Board member David Ripley already sees the impact of the special town meeting vote.
“I guess we’re just delaying it,” said Ripley.
More updates will follow once the school district makes a decision about the FY18 capital improvement plan in September.
