A newly-formed building committee will soon tackle the task of determining what to do about an expected influx of students in the coming years.
The Board of Selectmen Wednesday charged the new Oxford School Planning and Building Committee to “plan, obtain all necessary authorizations and coordinate the construction of school facilities to meet the needs of Oxford’s K‑8 physical building requirements and complete the athletic field requirements of Oxford High School.”
That doesn’t necessarily mean the town will undertake the construction of a new school, First Selectman Mary Ann Drayton-Rogers said, but it’s on the table.
“They are going to be looking into all options,” she said.
Two years ago the town paid $50,000 to have a school feasibility study done. The committee will use that document as its guiding force, Drayton-Rogers said. The committee will hold its first meeting July 19, when it will receive that information, she said.
The study “makes several different recommendations but not one specific one,” Drayton-Rogers said. Options include building a new elementary school, a new middle school, or constructing additions to the existing buildings she said.
“There are so many possibilities and the committee will come up with the best option that the town can afford,” she said.
Selectman David Yish was appointed to the committee as the liason to that board. He said people shouldn’t jump to the conclusion that the work will result in a new school.
“We are not endorsing a new building yet,” he said.
“It’s not been determined if we need a new school or if we can add on to an existing facility,” Drayton-Rogers agreed. “We are going to explore all of the possibilities.”
While building permits in general have stalled during the ongoing recession, the town is still seeing activity, she said, more so than other communities. And with the construction of several proposed developments , new residents continue to move to town, she said.
A Superior Court judge recently denied the town’s appeal of Garden Homes 113-unit affordable housing project planned for 41 acres on Donovan and Hurley roads, and another developer has plans to build 164 townhouses on 58 acres on Christian Street.
“We have to start planning for the future,” Drayton-Rogers said.