U.S. Congressman Joe Courtney took a close look at Birch Grove Primary School’s foundation on Tuesday. District leaders have been watching it for over a year after noticing spider-like veins in the concrete.
Walter Willett, the superintendent for Tolland Public Schools, said repairs are estimated to cost $46 million. Willett said the Connecticut Department of Education would help pay up to 52% of the repair costs.
Rep. Courtney is trying to raise awareness in Washington, D.C. and find federal money to help. Just last week on Tuesday, the House Education and Labor Committee passed a provision that Courtney wrote within the Rebuild America’s Schools Act (H.R. 865). It would create a new federal grant program for schools with crumbling foundations. It is now headed to the Ways and Means Committee and the Transportation Infrastructure Committee.
A town meeting is scheduled for March 27 at 7 p.m. at Tolland High School to discuss the effects on the town. Tolland will have to hold a referendum in May to appropriate the full amount of money for the Birch Grove Primary School repair project.
