By Brian McCready
Milford Bureau Chief
MILFORD — The Board of Education is considering hiring an architect to develop a cost analysis for possible significant program and facility changes.
Members of the school board and the administration met Monday night to discuss what "we want our facilities to look like in 10 or 15 years," said Superintendent of Schools Harvey B. Polansky.
"Tonight is a chance for the board to begin a dialogue of what if," Polansky said.
The board then recessed to allow members to write down on murals possible systemwide changes they’d like to see.
Ideas written down by board members include creating one high school and turning the existing two high schools into middle schools. Milford has nine schools that serve kindergartners through grade five, three middle schools for students from sixth through eighth grade, and two high schools.
Some ideas discussed include adopting an elementary system for kindergarten through fourth grade, and a middle school system for fifth through eighth grades.
Among the many suggestions was creating an elementary, middle, and high school system that is divided into specialty groups for the arts, technology, math, science and languages. One board member wrote urging that outplaced special education students and gifted be brought back to Milford schools.
"These are some of the ideas to get the ball rolling," said school board Chairman David Hourigan, D-4.
Polansky said whatever occurs, the district is committed to maintaining small class size. He also said the exercise was prudent because the facilities are "old" and it’s important to see how much upgrades may cost. Polansky said he’ll put together a list and engage an architect to look at which ideas are feasible and determine the costs. Polansky said a small fee may be necessary.
City Planner David Sulkis attended the meeting and said the city’s population will increase only modestly, and over the next 30 years, that means the addition of fewer than 5,000 people. He also said there is not likely to be a major increase in students coming into the district because there are fewer than 200 acres of remaining farmland that could be developed.
Brian McCready can be reached at bmccready@nhregister.com.