Windham News : windham high school

New high school, new technology running smoothly so far

Salem Editor — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:48:00 GMT

BY DERRICK PERKINS

Phillip Akerman’s single biggest worry as he walked into the new high school just over a month ago was what was going happen to all of his friends?

After a year at Salem High School, Akerman said he wasn’t the only one worried about giving up friendships forged in the neighboring community during freshman year.

Thankfully, he didn’t have to fret for too long.

“I’m friends with almost everybody,” the sophomore said last week, looking up from his school-provided Macbook during a study period.

But there were other challenges in getting used to a new building, new classmates and teachers, he said. The block scheduling has been difficult to get comfortable with and it took a few days to learn the layout of the building, but Akerman rated it a step up from Salem High even if the academic standards were tougher.

Classmate Colby Putnam agreed, describing Windham High as brighter, greener and more technology-orientated than any other school he could name.

“We have all this new technology, and we’re learning in a different way,” he said, pointing to a digital whiteboard taking up the space that a blackboard would have in the past.

“It’s a new and cool system that other schools don’t have.”

Technology – and how students and teachers would adjust – topped a list of concerns school administrators and district officials had over the summer. After getting into the rhythm of the school year, Principal Richard Manley said his main fear was students possibly mishandling their new laptops and teachers struggling to adapt to the technology at their fingertips.

“The students took to that more quickly than we were preparing,” he said. “Although we put a lot of time in planning and preparing for it and are continuing to do it, (the year has) actually has gone off pretty smoothly and some of the things that we thought may have come up didn’t.”

It’s been a learning experience for faculty and students, said humanities teacher Loren Dow. If she has a problem running a computer program, Dow will more than likely work it out with help from her students.

“Overall, things went smoothly. We are all starting to learning along with the kids,” Dow said. “It does take a lot of patience, but there is the fact that we are all in this together.”

The only downside to technology? With classes available by podcast and homework assignments downloadable, there’s no excuse for missing work, Putnam said.

As for the friends Putnam left behind at Salem High, there were no worries for him there.

“It was tough to leave everybody I became friends with, but it’s school,” the 15-year-old said. “You can always hang out afterward.”

Windham High’s XC race includes Pelham runners

Salem Editor — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 17:36:00 GMT

BY MATT SCHOOLEY

Windham doesn’t quite have a home-course advantage yet, but the Jaguars now officially have a course to call home.

Though nearly all of the teams at the newly opened Windham High School are junior varsity, the school’s cross country team is competing at the varsity level.

On Sept. 22, the school hosted its first-ever Windham Invitational, with the girls grabbing sixth in the eight-team field and the boys finishing in eighth, including a 10th-place time of 19 minutes, 33 seconds from Colby Putnam.

Windham’s best finisher from the girls team was Kate Farrell with a time of 21:44.

“To host the first meet here and have as many teams as we did, it was an amazing day for Windham High School,” said the Jaguars girls head coach, Kate Jackson.

Merrimack Valley won the girls team event with a score of 29, while Bedford dominated among the boys thanks to four runners in the top five. The Bulldogs tallied a team score of 22.

Pelham also took part in the event, as the young Python teams finished sixth and seventh in the boys and girls races, respectively.

Pelham’s head coach, Todd Kress, said his teams were not running at full speed, however, opting to use the race as a training day for the Manchester Invitational, which was Saturday, Sept. 26.

Freshman Brandon Hannon had the best time for the Pythons, running the 5-kilometer course in 20:58, good for 36th among 122 racers.

“In this sport, regular-season standings don’t matter, so there are certain races that you point to as big races, with Manchester being one of those,” said Kress. “(The Windham Invitational) was really about building confidence and gearing up for our next race.”

Hannon was one of the runners who Kress said benefited from the confidence boost, as the freshman is normally the team’s No. 5 competitor, but was able to run with the top Pythons throughout the hilly course.

Ethan Ely came in four spots behind Hannon, while Erin Krawczyk crossed the finish line just 15 seconds later. Senior Emily Spognardi was the best finisher for the Lady Pythons, grabbing 14th place with a time of 22:53. Jaguars boys head coach Mick Grant said the program’s future is promising because of the current members of the team, plus the strength of the middle school program.

The mentor also expressed his excitement about the inaugural invitational.

“We have a beautiful school, and before the race a lot of the teams wanted tours. It was a lot of fun,” said Grant. “It was great to be able to show off to the schools in the division.”

Windham fields teams with keen eyes toward the future

Salem Editor — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 19:38:00 GMT

BY MATT SCHOOLEY

When Bill Raycraft was brought in as Windham High School’s first athletics director, he knew whom to turn to for advice.

Raycraft, seeking a quick start for the fledgling program, contacted Thor Nilsen, who guided Bedford High School through a similar process, and did so with early success.

“That was one of the first phone calls I made when I was hired,” said Raycraft. “We talked about what worked for them and what they may have done differently. There are a lot of similarities in our communities, so I think the standards are equally high for us.”

Windham’s teams went to work recently, with the majority of coaches overseeing their first tryouts Monday, Aug. 17, on the various fields surrounding the vast high school campus.

The Jaguars begin their inaugural campaign with junior varsity programs, and girls soccer coach George Kendall said the first students taking the field have many lessons to learn.

“It’s about educating them to a new coach, system and school,” said Kendall. “They may not realize yet what they are going to be a part of. It will take them a little while to see that they’re really a part of history in town.”

On the first day of tryouts, the girls soccer team focused on fitness training outside, while in the gym girls volleyball hopefuls focused on basic setting and passing skills. The volleyball team’s mentor is no stranger to building a program.

Jill Bartlett helped the Bedford girls lacrosse team notch three victories in its first varsity season this spring, but more importantly, she set the standard for her team’s work ethic.

“It keeps you positive to have gone through part of the process before,” said Bartlett. “Even when it gets frustrating, you know you’ll make it through. Some of the teams won’t be as successful right away, but there are going to be some teams who will hit the ground running.”

In addition to his role as athletics director, Raycraft is also serving as the Windham football coach, where he is excited to finally be able to take to the sidelines.

“All of the work, research and scheduling will finally pay off,” said Raycraft. “Not only for football, but for all sports, we’re building for the future. While we’re building the foundation now, next year is when things count, so we have to be prepared.”

Bartlett said it’s critical for her to keep small, manageable goals for her young team, while keeping in mind the reward that comes after a few years together.

“The big picture is critical,” said Bartlett. “And it’s a great picture to be staring at.”

Windham High ready to open

Salem Editor — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 18:50:00 GMT

BY DERRICK PERKINS

With less than a month to go before doors open to students, Principal Richard Manley believes the bulk of the work to ready the new high school for the start of classes has been finished.

Educators are going over their lesson plans, developing teaching activities for the year and familiarizing themselves with the wealth of technology at their fingertips in anticipation of Sept. 2 – the first day of school, Manley said.

Preparing for the new school’s debut has been an ongoing process that began in October 2008 when educators and School Board members hammered out a mission statement for the high school in conjunction with parents and other members of the community.

Once that was finished, school officials went through the process of getting the school accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, earning state approval and developing a curriculum, according to Manley.

Taking a tour of the new building with former school board members Al Letizio Jr. and Beth Valentine on Monday, Aug. 10, Superintendent Frank Bass described the process of getting the high school ready as hectic, but said he was pleased with the level of support school officials had received from the community. “It’s made a huge difference in getting the school open,” he said.

One of the challenges Manley and his staff have faced has been fostering a working relationship between the educators who will be teamed up with each other to teach interdisciplinary humanities courses – combining social studies and English with literature, music, religion and philosophy – for the first time, according to Manley. Other schools that have adopted that method of teaching generally pair up teachers that have worked together in the past, but that won’t be possible in Windham, he said.

Group seeks funds for wind turbines, solar panels for high school

Salem Editor — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 19:23:00 GMT

BY DERRICK PERKINS

Given the green-light from school officials, a group of local residents hopes to give students a hands-on opportunity to work with renewable energy sources at the new high school.

Formed by the School Board in 2008, the Windham Initiative for Renewable Energy has set its sights on installing solar panels and erecting a fully functional wind turbine at the not-yet-opened high school by next spring.

“We are working on a fullfledged fundraising tour to garner the $58,000 (the project will cost). Our commitment was to do this without taxpayer funding,” said Alan Carpenter, a board member of the Windham Initiative for Renewable Energy. “My expectation is that it will be a lot of work and take the better part of a year.”

Carpenter, a former selectman and Planning Board member, said the group has already collected about $3,000 for the project. While WIRE is also studying the possibility of applying for and using grant money to fund a portion of the project, Carpenter said he expects most of the donations to come from residents.

According to Carpenter, the group will wait until after fundraising efforts have finished to begin looking at what kind of wind turbine to purchase, though he believes it will be a medium-sized model with a 60-foot tower and 10- to 15-foot diameter blades. While that will not be enough to save the district much money on energy costs at the school, Carpenter said the emphasis has been on how it will benefit the science curriculum.

“The payback is based on the enhancement to the curriculum. We’re looking to send our students off to college through renewable energy 101,” he said. “When they get to engineering schools, they’re not starting from scratch. They’ve got some hands on experience so that when they get to the engineering schools, they are stepping into sophomore level. We want it to be as fulfilling and enriching as possible. Everything we’re doing is about the students, not about saving energy costs.”

After two years of studying the data garnered from the weather conditions near the school and the energy produced by the turbine, WIRE will take another look at possibly bringing in a larger turbine, according to Carpenter.

In the meantime, School Board Chairman Bruce Anderson said the turbine and solar panels will be a great way to get students involved in renewable energy and interested in alternative energy sources.

“It won’t produce a significant amount of energy, but the educational purpose is to look into alternative energy. I think hopefully down the road, they’ll raise enough money to talk about putting in a larger turbine and more panels that will produce a more significant amount of energy,” Anderson said. “It is definitely consistent with a lot of what we see happening in the world today ... It’s a great opportunity to get kids excited in high school.”

Windham track and field bond to be top money item at session

Salem Editor — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 20:58:00 GMT

BY DERRICK PERKINS

With the opening of the new high school coming up fast, the School Board is asking voters to consider a bond for the construction of a $2.7 million track and athletic field at the Feb. 6 deliberative session at 7 p.m. in the Golden Brook School.

With $500,000 of that coming from the interest earned on the investment of bond proceeds, taxpayers are being asked to raise $2.2 million for the addition to the new high school.

A similar $1.5 million bond for the construction of a second gymnasium at the high school was cut by the School Board last month. Voters rejected a combined request for a second gymnasium and track and field on the ballot last year.

An $800,000 appropriation to cover the architect and engineering fees associated with completing a building study for the district is also up for discussion.

The district is also asking residents to approve a $40.4 million operating budget for the ensuing year. The district’s default budget - should the proposed budget fail before voters in March – is $39.8 million.

Merge ahead: town, school to fund Windham High road

Salem Editor — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 20:18:00 GMT

BY DERRICK PERKINS

With plans in place to fund a secondary access road for the new Windham high school, town and school district officials look forward to welcoming students to the facility in the fall.

Concerns that the $55 million building would not open on time were laid to rest last on Jan. 13 after the School Board voted 3-2 to put up $500,000 for the estimated $900,000 Class V paved road. Fire Chief Thomas McPherson had previously warned school district and town officials that he would not sign off on the building – situated in the woods about a mile back from Route 111 – unless a second road was built for emergency vehicles.

“It’s a pretty big relief. I think that my life has been pretty peaceful for the past (few) days,” said Bruce Anderson, vice chairman of the School Board. “The fact that we resolved this without going to court put a lot of people’s minds at ease. It’s a collective sigh of relief for people on both sides of the issue. This problem, that of the road issue, will not get in the way of the school opening.”

Anderson described the debate between School Board members held in a nonpublic session as “spirited.”

“We were not pleased about having to take the money out of our contingency fund when it could be used for other things, and that was the difficulty that everybody on the board shared,” Anderson said. “What it came down to was the majority of the board felt that spending that money to guarantee that this school would open without further legal battles was worth it.”

With the remaining funding supplied by selectmen and a $250,000 donation from abutter Jim Logan, school officials are happy to now focus entirely on preparing the new building for students.

“We can now concentrate all of our efforts on the school itself and not on outside forces,” said Superintendent Frank Bass. “Right now we’re concentrating on ordering all of the necessary materials. We have now 450 applicants for 28 teaching positions, and we’re very excited by the talent pool.”

Though town officials estimate that constructing the road will take about eight months, the work should be finished in time for school to start at the end of August, according to David Sullivan, town administrator.

The challenges facing school officials now include purchasing educational materials, implementing a curriculum and convincing voters to pass two warrant articles in a tough economic climate that would allow for the construction of a track and field and a gymnasium for the high school.

“The big challenge going forward is the completion of the high school relative to the fields, the curriculum and now how we’re going to pay for it,” said Selectman Charles McMahon. “There is quite bit that has to be done. There is the cost of maintaing and running it and having a sustained tax base to support it as a town. We need to work together as a town.”

Bass described the work as “energizing” and said he looked forward to addressing the challenges as they come. “It’s all exciting work,” Bass said. “We don’t get bored.”

District plans to give laptop to every Windham High School student

Salem Editor — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 22:10:00 GMT

BY DERRICK PERKINS

Rather than putting a computer in every classroom, school administrators are planning to put a computer in the hands of every student enrolled at the new high school.

“One of the things we’ve been doing is trying to research what are going to be the best practices to prepare kids for the world around then when they get out of high school,” Assistant Superintendent Roxanne Wilson said. “We’ve done the research that says we need to have kids technologically adept to compete in the world market.”

A new program embraced by the superintendent’s office, one-to- one computing, should put a personal laptop computer in the hands of every student who steps foot into the new school building after it opens next fall, making Windham one of the first public school systems in New Hampshire to bring 21st-century skills into the curriculum, according to Wilson.

Students will have the laptops with them throughout the day, but will be able take them home after the school day ends for homework and research use. Wilson said that allowing the students to use the equipment both at school and at home will infuse the technological aspect of the Internet age into their everyday learning and help them improve their critical thinking and problem- solving skills.

“We want to make sure that we have the opportunity to give our kids the upper edge on technology and preparing them for that route,” she said.

According to the high school’s technology director, Terry Bullard, implementing the plan has come at a perfect time with the construction of the new school in Windham. Rather than retrofitting the building or the curriculum for the one-to-one computing program, administrators have the opportunity to configure both the school and their future teachers around the student laptops.

“One of the reasons this is the right time to do this for Windham is that we’re able to incorporate the proper infrastructure to do this as well as the staffing to develop the proper curriculum,” Bullard said. “ It’s a unique opportunity to start fresh.”

The school will be equipped with a wireless Internet signal for students and educators to use throughout the day, as the laptops replace the need for individual computer labs. The school is also bringing on board a technical staff to maintain a “help desk” for students experiencing problems with their computers.

While the details on the program have not been worked out – both the total cost of the laptops and the specific computer model to be used have yet to be determined – Wilson said that by giving out individual laptops to students saved the school money in the short term, though that cost would increase as the school body expanded to include not only the freshmen and sophomore classes, but juniors and seniors as well.

Wilson got the go-ahead to begin the program with a unanimous vote from the School Board on Oct. 21. Board Chairman Barbara Coish said the research Bullard and Wilson had done on the program had convinced her that it would be the right move for Windham’s high school students.

“Hopefully, it turns out to be as exciting as it sounds to be and it benefits the students more than just books, books, books,” she said. “I would imagine that would instill some responsibility in the students. They know they have to take care of this equipment.”

A little longer for Windham High School access road decision

Salem Editor — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 00:33:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

Windham school superintendent and School Board member Michael Hatem told the town’s Board of Selectmen they need a few more weeks to come up with a viable plan for a second access road for the new high school. The Board of Selectmen held an informational meeting on the issue during their regular weekly selectmen’s meeting on Monday, Sept. 29.

Fire Chief Tom McPherson led the board and the public through a PowerPoint presentation outlining the fire codes that justify intalling the second access before the school can open in September 2009 and showing aerial photos to support his case for the road.

McPherson said he is urging the School Board to act quickly on planning the access road, as there is less than a year left before the school’s opening to get all the planning, engineering, and construction completed. Superintendent Frank Bass said in a letter to the Board of Selectmen that the School Board would like until Oct. 29 to come up with a final plan.

“Certainly the board will work its very best to come to a timely decision as quickly as they can,” Bass said. “They just wanted extra time to get it right and explore every option.”

Hatem, speaking as a citizen and not a School Board member, said the board will come to the right solution soon, but needs some time to sort out the options.

“I think we just need a little time to turn down the heat. We’re going to solve this,” Hatem said.

During a special vote at the primary election on Sept. 9, Windham voters turned down a $1.25 million bond proposal for a paved town road that would cover the unpaved portion of London Bridge Road, extending it from Route 111 to Castle Hill Road. At the vote in March, a similar proposal on the school district ballot was also voted down.

The fire and police officials in town supported that proposal because it complied with fire and safety codes and would also function as a means of accessing the western side of town more quickly, McPherson said.

“The issue with this is it was the only presentation that we saw,” said McPherson. “That was the proposal put before us, and we, as public safety officials, supported that because of reasons other than the high school.”

Selectman Charles McMahon called for the meeting, inviting the School Board, the state fire marshal, and a representative from the state’s Department of Education.

“It’s real, it’s palpable and there’s real anxiety,” McMahon said of the community’s worry over the access road issue, adding he’s gotten calls from residents asking whether they should explore other high school options for their children in case the school doesn’t open as planned.

The state fire marshal’s office and the Department of Education both sent letters to the town saying they would not attend the meeting because the access road is a town issue.

According to the National Fire Protection Association’s universal fire code, which McPherson explained during the presentation, “more than one fire department access road shall be provided when it is determined by the (authority having jurisdiction) that access by a single road could be impaired by vehicle congestion, condition of terrain, climatic conditions or other factors that could limit the access.”

The code further states that any access road should be at least 20 feet wide with a vertical clearance of no less than 13 feet 6 inches, and should be able to carry emergency vehicles and be properly maintained.

During the presentation, McPherson showed several aerial photos of the school taken by state police in helicopter flyovers, and also photos of some maintenance roads coming off of London Bridge Road that service the athletic fields.

Those two maintenance roads are only about 14 feet wide, said McPherson, and do not meet the requirements for a second access according to the fire code.

Police Chief Gerald Lewis said the second access is important in case of an accident or other catastrophic event that could block London Bridge Road, which has some blind curves and steep grades off the edges of the road in some spots.

Lewis pointed out that everything from buses, propane delivery trucks and cars containing new student drivers will be traveling along that road either to or from the school.

“It takes one incident anywhere along here for us to have difficulty getting in and getting out,” Lewis said.

McPherson also used photos to point out the heavily wooded areas surrounding the school, saying there was no safe place to evacuate students without the access road being present.

Lewis said any incident of school violence would pose a problem in trying to evacuate and account for students in the woods, saying he and the chief would be the ones on the hook for any mishaps in the evacuation procedure.

Windham official must solve high school access road issue

Salem Editor — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 19:34:00 GMT

BY DERRICK PERKINS

State and local officials said the town is not in serious jeopardy of losing state building aid for the new high school after voters rejected a second access road required under the state fire code.

In order to receive financial aid from the state for the construction of a new school, the structure’s plans must be approved and the building must meet fire codes, both at the local and state level. With the recent rejection of a proposal to construct a $1.25 million secondary access road to the future high school, required by Fire Chief Tom McPherson for the school to open, some worry that the state may rescind funding for the construction project.

State aid would cover 30 percent of the cost to build the new high school, roughly $17 million of the $55 million project.

“If you don’t build by the code, you don’t get the money,” said Selectman Charles McMahon. “It’s the view of the people in Windham who have not accepted that there is a higher jurisdiction and the state Department of Education that clearly states in their codes and their rules what it takes to build this high school. We need to respond to that, not with opinion, but with statements of fact.”

In an e-mail sent to town officials, Ed Murdough, of the New Hampshire Department of Education, reiterated state fire codes must be met in order for the town to receive building aid. Chief McPherson, who has publicly stated he will not allow the school to open without a second exit, has the authority to enforce the code if in “his judgment there is a likelihood that the primary access could be blocked during an emergency situation,” according to Murdough.

According to Murdough, the only scenario in which the school would lose state funding would be if the building never opened, an outcome he called “not realistic.”

“My expectation is that they’re going to work it out,” he said. “How they work it out, I don’t know, but they’ve got to resolve that locally.”

In the meantime, McMahon has proposed a meeting between state and local authorities to hash out the problem and determine a solution on Sept. 29.

“It’s in law, it’s irrefutable, and sadly, there are those that don’t except that. I don’t want to mortgage our future and children’s safety on opinion,” McMahon said. “Let’s get the authorities in the same room.”

According to McMahon, close to eight months would be needed to construct a second access road, leaving the town with a tight schedule to fulfill the requirements to ensure the school opens on time next fall. McMahon said that the rapidly closing window of time to resolve the issue had spurred the board to get involved in finding a viable solution.

“We have to sit down and just meet with everybody involved and try and resolve this,” said Selectman Roger Hohenberger. “I can’t foresee an instance where the school can open and we won’t get 30 percent state aid. I can’t foresee an instance where the school won’t open.”

Windham high school access road fails

Salem Editor — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 23:45:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

Windham voters turned down a special warrant article at the polls on Tuesday, Sept. 9, that would have allowed the town to enter a $1.25 million agreement to build a town road to provide a second access to the new high school.

Warrant Article 1 failed in a 986-794 vote, and now the town has to come up with another road plan that will be palatable to voters come their next trip to the polls in March. A similar article on the school district warrant was voted down at the polls last March.

The town was going to build a paved 24-foot-wide, 4,000-foot-long road over the existing London Bridge Road. The new road would have connected Route 111 to Castle Hill Road, acting as a second access for emergency vehicles to the school and also allowing them quicker access across town.

The New Hampshire State Board of Education recently sent notice to the town saying the high school project will not get 30 percent aid unless the building is in line with Fire Chief Tom McPherson’s charge to comply with state fire codes.

Before it opens in September 2009, McPherson said the school needs a second access to meet minimum state fire code requirements. It must be 20 feet wide, have a 13-feet, 6-inch vertical clearance, be able to carry fire trucks and have a design that can be maintained year round.

“We’re obviously disappointed, but I respect the voters’ decision,” McPherson said. “Somebody needs to step up to the plate and get something in there.”

McPherson supported the Board of Selectmen’s design for the public road.

“From a public safety standpoint, it’s disappointing,” he said. “I’m willing to work with any individuals or groups to make sure that school opens on time.”

Selectman Bruce Breton said the board will discuss their options for a new plan in upcoming meetings. “I just wish the School Board and the Board of Selectmen had really come together,” Breton said.

Voters approved Warrant Article 2 in a 1,170 to 571 vote to place 83 acres of land in the town forest into conservation with the Exeter-based South East Land Trust.

Windham High track will have to wait

Salem Editor — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 19:22:00 GMT

BY DERRICK PERKINS

Windham athletic director Bill Raycraft and School Board members agree the new high school is in need of a track, though building one may be several years off.

While the possible addition of a track surrounding a turf field is still in the conceptual phase, Raycraft described eventually building the facility as a necessity.

“What we’re looking for now is really necessities, not any of the frills,” he said. “Right now we have some concerns with going forward with what we have with fields.”

At the moment, the high school’s athletic facilities consists of five fields and a gymnasium. While Raycraft has not yet determined which sports – based on potential student participation and interest within the community – the high school will likely host when it opens in the fall of 2009, the limited existing facilities could pose a problem.

“There are certain things we’re going to be able to do. We’re going to have to look at our field situation and determine how soon,” Raycraft said. “Right now we don’t know what sports can be run. It will be known by next month. We haven’t discussed any of sports.”

Still, by not having a track and field, the athletic department has been put at a disadvantage, given the popularity of the sport, Raycraft said.

According to Athletic Committee member Chris O’Neil, the high school’s limited facilities will create a scheduling conflict for sports with overlapping schedules that share the same space, like wrestling, cheerleading and gymnastics. Having a football field without a second field to practice on will also present a problem, he said.

“Right now we’re going on the recommendations of our athletic director. His first priority is that track with the turf field,” said Beverly Donovan, a School Board member. “Right now we’re gathering the estimates. We’re only in the conceptual stage. We have all agreed that it is a high priority, but that doesn’t mean that it will be on the warrant this year.”

In March voters rejected a proposal for a second gym, three athletic fields and a multipurpose stadium with bleacher seating.

“It was not a wise idea to clump everything together,” said Barbara Coish, board chairman. “From stadiums to baseball fields to extra gyms and all of that is not going to be palatable to this public, and they didn’t vote for it. I think even the electorate will support a track eventually.”

She described a simple fenced-off track with a field inside as something that voters would be more likely to support in the coming years. Bruce Anderson, vice chairman of the School Board, agreed with Coish’s assessment.

“It wouldn’t be a full blown stadium. It might be built to a standard to someday add that layer, but get the field and track first,” Anderson said. “I’m optimistic when the town hears the need for those facilities that they’re going to support it.”

While a warrant article allocating the funds for the new facilities will not likely appear before voters within the next year, School Board members are confident that the high school will eventually host its own field and track.

In the meantime, with the school set to have classes limited to freshman and sophomore students in 2009, Raycraft has some room to maneuver.

“We want to listen to what the community wants,” he said.

Windham access road debated

Salem Editor — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 19:06:00 GMT

BY DERRICK PERKINS

Selectmen received mild support and pointed criticism over the possible construction of a $1.25 million secondary access road for the high school during a deliberative session on Tuesday, Aug. 12.

The town is gearing up to vote on two warrant articles during a special Town Meeting on Sept. 9, one of which is a $1.25 million bond to construct a 24-foot-wide paved road connecting Route 111 to Castle Hill Road to provide a secondary access to the high school.

State law requires that the high school constructed in that location have a second access for emergencies unless a waiver is signed by the local authorities. Fire Chief Tom McPherson has stated he will not sign off on the building unless the secondary access is constructed, though he has said publicly that he will work with town officials to find a feasible solution.

“I’ve been to a lot of town meetings and school district meetings when I’ve had to sit through long and boring over-detailed projects ... I’ve never come to a town meeting about a $1.25 million project and not had a presentation made,” resident Betty Dunn told selectman, to applause. “This is an important step in the democratic process and I would like to have a presentation on what it is and what we’ll be voting on.”

Debate focused on the standard of the proposed road with town residents arguing both for and against the proposed construction of a paved road with underground conduits for electrical wiring and underground drainage as outlined in the warrant article.

“We’re here because we’re trying to get the school opened by 2009 and in order to do that, we need a second egress. That’s been determined by our fire chief. In order to do that, we feel that we need this special meeting to begin the process of (building the road),” Selectman Roger Hohenberger said. “Past discussion has been over whether it should be paved, gated or a through road. What we have been talking about is a through road.”

Hohenberger said the proposed road would give the town’s police and fire departments better access not only to the high school but to other neighborhoods in the town.

“To have this second access, not only because it’s a requirement, but because we have a school located down a mile of the road that is one way in, one way out,” Chief McPherson told the board and members of the audience. “As you know, the town of Windham operates with one station. We don’t have the luxury of having substations. (There is) limited travel to the other parts of town. Certainly this road, from a public safety standpoint, serves multiple purposes.”

Though building a gravel access instead of a paved road remained a viable option, both selectmen and town public safety officials said that move would cost more than paving the road.

According to selectmen, the gravel road option would cost $150,000 less and violate agreements with abutters who had donated the land to the town for the project in return for the paved road. The cost of annual maintenance of the gravel road combined with the price of buying out the abutters would make any savings negligible, officials said.

While residents also raised concerns over traffic issues, the presence of young and inexperienced drivers along the proposed route and the lack of either sidewalks or a bike path, the wording on the warrant survived the session unchanged and will retain the same wording when it is brought before voters in September.

“I think there’s one thing we can all agree upon – nobody is happy being here at this stage of this project dealing with this issue. It’s distressing. That’s reality. We are here and we are in this place and we have to face this reality,” Dunn said. “I am convinced we need another real access road. If you look at in theory, its one thing, but if you look at it and see how difficult of a road it’s going to be, you might be more inclined to say we need to do this.”

Access road and conservation easement to be discussed at Aug. 12 Windham deliberative session

Salem Editor — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 19:17:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

Windham voters who want to weigh in on constructing a second access road to Windham High School, currently under construction, and a proposed conservation easement in the town forest area should attend a deliberative session on Tuesday, Aug. 12, at 7 p.m., at the Town Hall.

The two articles on the warrant will be included as part of the vote in the Sept. 9 primaries.

Article 1 asks voters to authorize the town to secure a $1.25 million bond to build a new town road over the existing London Bridge Road for the purpose of providing a second access to the high school.

The proposed plan includes extending the road to Castle Hill Road, allowing emergency vehicles to more easily access the western side of town, cutting down on emergency response time.

Earlier this month, the Board of Selectmen unanimously approved the plans for the 24-foot wide paved road after much debate on whether the road needed to be a standard sized paved road or a smaller gravel one. A similar ballot question was included on the school district ballot in March, but failed to get the 60 percent majority vote needed to pass.

Many residents at a public hearing on the parameters of the access road on Monday, July 21, said building a paved town road was going overboard.

Both the state Board of Education and Windham Fire Chief Tom McPherson have said the school needs a secondary access road before it can open in September 2009.

The Windham Fire Department has been a proponent of paving the road and making it full size to allow for emergency vehicles to pass easily and to ensure the road is properly maintained. Potholes would be prevalent on a gravel road, said Assistant Fire Chief Robert Leuci at the public hearing, making it difficult to plow and likely more expensive to maintain.

If voters approve the bond, the first payment would be made in September 2009 in the amount of $175,000, including the principal payment and interest. The amount of the payments would decrease by $5,000 yearly up until the end of the bond payment schedule in 2018.

Selectman Roger Hohenberger, charged with looking into the costs of a paved road versus a gravel one, said at the hearing a paved 24-foot road would only cost $150,000 more than a gravel road, adding the gravel would be much more expensive to maintain over the years due to erosion.

At the weekly meeting on Monday, Aug. 4, the board heard comments from the public on the second article on the ballot, regarding putting two parcels of land off of Goodhue road into a third-party conservation easement, which would be held by the Exeter-based Southeast Land Trust.

The Windham Conservation Commission currently owns the land, but if the land is placed with a third-party group it becomes eligible for a reimbursement for most of the purchase cost because of the land’s proximity to Salem’s water supply.

The parcels are separated by other town-owned pieces of land in the town forest, one of them about 53 acres and the other about 20 acres.

The question of whether to put the land in trust sparked debate among the selectmen, a couple of whom felt the parameters of the easement were too strict.

A conservation easement would limit the use of the land and prevent building residential or commercial/industrial structures on it, and getting out of the easement would be impossible without going through the eminent domain process.

The town would also have to reimburse Southeast Land Trust for part of the cost of the land in that event, something Hohenberger said was unfair despite his support of conservation.

“I think that restriction is going to potentially make a lot of people possibly vote the wrong way,” said Hohenberger.

Selectman Galen Stearns agreed, saying putting the land in a third-party trust would tie the hands of future town officials and voters.

“I don’t have a crystal ball. I don’t know what the town’s needs are going to be,” he said.

Ellen Snyder, a representative of Southeast Land Trust, said the whole point of a conservation easement was to preserve it forever.

Resident Margaret Case said the town can do a good enough job of preserving the land without putting it in the hands of a third party.

“Why can’t we trust the people in this town to do the right thing?” she asked, reiterating Stearns’ point that no one could be sure of the town’s needs in the future. “We don’t know what we are going to need perhaps to survive in the next 30 or 40 years. My final word on this is, I hope the people vote ‘no.’”

Selectman Bruce McMahon, who helped get the article on the ballot, said the easement should have been part of the Conservation Commission’s purchase to begin with.

He added the easement was needed to get the state funding reimbursement, which would amount to about $177,000, in order to purchase other pieces of land for conservation. Typically, conservation land is purchased through money collected from current use penalties.

“What’s the purpose? It’s funds, because we’re running out of current use penalty land,” McMahon said.

Windham high school road to be on September ballot

Salem Editor — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:05:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

The layout of a proposed town road that would provide a second means of emergency access to the new Windham High School was unanimously passed by the Board of Selectmen after a site walk and public hearing.

Windham residents who spoke out at the Monday, July 21, public hearing were split in their opinions about the road’s purpose and layout, with some agreeing that it should be a paved throughway and others saying it should be a smaller gravel road with limited access.

The board voted unanimously to pass the plans for a 24-footwide paved road that would extend from the high school over London Bridge Road and connect to Castle Hill Road.

The project, estimated to cost just over $1 million, will go before voters as a special ballot item during the Sept. 9 primary elections.

A deliberative session on the town’s warrant article requesting to take out a $1.25 million bond for the road will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 12, at 7 p.m. at the town hall.

According to the state Department of Education, the school needs to have a second access before it can open. It is slated to open in September 2009, which leaves the town the Sept. 9 vote and the March 2009 vote to secure funding for the road.

A similar ballot question appeared on the school district’s ballot this past March, but failed to get the 60 percent majority vote it needed to pass. Selectman Bruce McMahon had petitioned the article with the argument the school district could get 30 percent reimbursement from the state with the project’s passage.

Several residents voiced their concerns at the public hearing that the proposed road was too costly and should not be a paved street. The town may have a hard time getting approval for funding for the proposed road, some said.

“We don’t want to stop the school. We do want to have a second emergency egress in there, but beyond meeting those goals, why do more, and why do it at the expense of taxpayers?” said Betty Dunn of Woodvue Road at the public hearing. “You haven’t convinced me yet.”

Dunn suggested the funding could fall under a betterment clause, which would mean the developer would pay for the road. Town attorney Bernard Campbell said the state of New Hampshire does not have a general betterment clause, so that was not an option.

Windham Fire Police Chief Thomas McPherson has said the school needs to have an emergency access before it can open.

The fire department would like to see the road be made into a paved, standard-sized road that would allow police and emergency vehicles seamless access to the school as well as a means to get to the other side of town quicker, said Assistant Deputy Fire Chief Robert Leuci. Leuci added that creating a town road instead of simply a limited access way will ensure that the road is maintained throughout the winter.

The fire department wants to see the road paved because a gravel road could be full of potholes and ruts after the snow and rain seasons.

Selectman Roger Hohenberger said a paved 24-foot road would only cost $150,000 more than a gravel road, adding the gravel would be much more expensive to maintain over the years due to erosion.

Chairman Dennis Senibaldi said making the road a paved, official public road will allow for easier snow removal and more efficient repairs.

“At the end of the day, it’s not about how we got here, it’s about how the chief’s going to get there,” said Senibaldi, referring to the fire department. “If you can get there and save a life, no one’s going to be talking about this road.”

In order to expand the road, the town is going to have to eat up some of the abutting properties. The town currently owns about one-third of London Bridge Road, which is paved right now. The other two-thirds of it are dirt and privately owned.

Two attorneys, John Ratigan, representing abutter James Logan, and Patricia Panciocco, representing Kerry McKenna, said their clients would be glad to give up land for the road as long as it was paved and maintained.

Peter Schmidt, of Heritage Hill Road, said he’s concerned about the amount of traffic that will be coming down his street once the new road opens.

“You’re going to jam that road like there’s no tomorrow,” said Schmidt.