Questionable Assumptions

The Town Council's vote to spend $1.679 million was based primarily on the building committee's presentation. And what was the presentation based on? Assumptions - assumptions that deserve a little more scrutiny.

Assumption: Each administrator needs 400 square feet (20 feet by 20 feet).
Why do they need that much space? As a taxpayer, ask yourself if 22 administrators really need FOUR different conference rooms AND an employee lounge. If each administrator could get by with 17 feet by 17 feet, they could move right into the second floor of the Police Station. That floor, now empty and available town space, once accommodated 150 students. Perhaps a qualified architect could find a way to accommodate 22 administrators in the same space in high style.

Assumption: The building committee surveyed other towns.
That's nice. Interestingly enough, NO other surrounding town has found it prudent to clear-cut woodland or spend taxpayer money on an all-new, single-purpose, stand-alone building for its school administrators. School administration offices are typically located in existing town-owned spaces (town halls, former schools, etc.).

Assumption: The traffic pattern at the Police Station is too crowded for the office to be located there.
We're sorry to hear that the building committee continues to misrepresent the parking and traffic flow at the police station site. For example, the building committee's continued claim that ALL of the organizations in that campus enter to the left of the station, swing around the back of the station, and exit to the right of the station is just plain wrong. We'd invite anyone to watch the traffic pattern there. Schoolhouse Apartments, Day Care Center, and Group Home enter and exit in parking lots entirely separate from the Police Station site. None of them EVER circle behind the Police Station. EVER. Incidentally, all of these facilities generate minimal traffic, nothing compared to the waves of Saxe/South/NCHS bus/car and commuter traffic at South Avenue and Farm Road.

Assumption: The school administrators need to be separate from the high school building for security reasons.
What? Surely they don't mean to suggest that they'll be safe in a separate building while leaving our children at risk?