Milford Board of Education Adopts 20-Year Facilities Plan 7-2; Two Members Dissent Over Disruption Concerns

The Milford Board of Education voted 7-2 Monday night to adopt the Long Range Facilities Master Plan, beginning a 20-year process that will close two elementary schools and one middle school, rebuild or substantially renovate every remaining school in the district, and ultimately transition Milford Public Schools from eight elementary schools and three middle schools to six elementary schools and two middle schools.

The plan, developed in collaboration with the consulting firm Perkins Eastman over nearly three years, will close Calf Pen Meadow Elementary, Meadowside Elementary, and Harborside Middle School. The closure of Harborside had been decided previously. Both high schools — Jonathan Law and Joseph A. Foran — will remain open and be renovated rather than replaced.

Board Chair Susan Glennon described the plan as "a blueprint for the next 20-plus years as we address the needs of our aging buildings," while emphasizing repeatedly that the vote does not commit the district to specific funding. Each project will still need to be approved year-by-year through Milford's annual capital improvement plan process, then bonded through the Board of Finance and Board of Aldermen.

"It is just a plan that identifies what we believe the needs are of the district, because they are so extensive," Glennon said. "We are not asking for funding right now."

How the Plan Got Here

In her opening remarks before the vote, Glennon traced the origin of the planning process to a critical 2023 budget moment. She credited then-Alderman Tony Giannattasio — who would go on to serve as mayor from November 2023 until November 2025 — with making the motion that restored a $1.8 million reduction to the Board of Education budget that year. The condition, Glennon said, was that the district commit to developing a long-range facilities plan so that future budget cuts would not force sudden school closures.

That commitment is what produced the plan adopted Monday night.

The Two No Votes

Voting against the motion were Mary Claire Edmonds and Adam Scobie. Both Democrats, both first elected in November 2025. Their dissent was not partisan; both raised substantive concerns about how the chosen sequence would affect students at specific schools.

Edmonds focused on John F. Kennedy Elementary, where construction in 2029-2031 would be followed by those students moving to Harborside as swing space during West Shore Middle School's construction in 2031-2033 — meaning four consecutive years of construction-related disruption for the same cohort of children.

"When I look at the plan that's before us, I don't think that this is a plan that is doing the best possible thing for our kids," Edmonds said before the vote. "I think we can do better than four years straight of disruption with limited play space outside. I think we can do better than portables for years on end without guarantee of funding. And I think that we can do better for our kids than prioritizing buildings that were touched nine years ago than buildings that haven't been touched in 20 years."

Edmonds was referring to West Shore Middle School, which received a 9,000-square-foot addition in 2017 that the district may have to partially reimburse the state for if the building is replaced before 2037. Assistant Superintendent of Business and Operations Sean Brennan estimated the reimbursement obligation at roughly $75,000 per year remaining on the 20-year clock, with the original capital cost of that 2017 addition at approximately $15 million.

Scobie said he had been wrestling with the plan since the previous board meeting and had come to believe a different sequence — one that paired elementary and middle school construction on the same side of town simultaneously — would minimize the number of students affected by consecutive disruptions.

"I just can't help but worry about that double impact that students might have," Scobie said. "A student going through four years of disruption could end up changing the impact of their overall educational journey."

Cindy Wolfe Boynton was excused from Monday's meeting and did not vote.

What the Plan Actually Does

The adopted sequence, called Scenario A, begins with construction of new buildings at John F. Kennedy and Live Oaks elementary schools from 2029 to 2031. Both sites are large enough to accommodate new buildings on the property while the existing schools remain in operation — meaning students at those two schools would not need swing space.

After that, the plan moves to the middle schools, one at a time. West Shore would be rebuilt from 2031 to 2033, with students using Harborside as swing space. Then East Shore would be rebuilt from 2033 to 2035, also using Harborside.

The plan then returns to elementary schools, with Orchard Hills and Mathewson rebuilt next, followed by Orange Avenue and Pumpkin Delight. Both high schools come last in the sequence, though Perkins Eastman Principal Patrick Davis told the board that the high schools would continue to receive programmatic investment in the meantime to ensure students have the spaces they need.

Calf Pen Meadow and Meadowside are currently scheduled to close in 2030-2031, with their students redistributed across the remaining elementary schools. Davis noted the board could choose to delay those closures, since the buildings themselves are not directly required for swing space — but doing so would have operational and programmatic cost implications the board would need to weigh.

Approximately 20 portable classrooms will be needed across the district at various points during construction to accommodate displaced students. A quote previously obtained by the district estimated approximately $1.1 million for six classrooms over a two-year rental period, suggesting the total portable cost across the full plan could run between $4 million and $6 million depending on configuration and amenities.

A Cost Range Nobody Wants to Commit To

The total cost of the plan has been estimated at between $1.49 billion and $1.68 billion by Perkins Eastman. The board members' concerns about cost were repeatedly raised as a reason to begin the plan rather than delay it — because Perkins Eastman estimates construction costs will escalate by approximately 3.5 percent annually.

Meghan Doyle, who has served on the board through the entire planning process, said she was uncertain the board could realistically expect the city to fund $60 million per year of capital improvements going forward. "We all live in this world. It's expensive. It's incredibly expensive," Doyle said. But she still voted yes, arguing the alternative was worse.

Nicole Flowers framed the same concern more starkly: "The last school that our community saw opened in 1973. And those freshmen are now 67 years old."

Jennifer Brown, also voting yes, said the decision was about future generations. "It's not just about my son. It's about the kids that haven't been born yet. It's about the kids five years from now, ten years from now. I just cannot see myself passing this off."

Public Comment Was Almost Entirely Opposed — or Concerned

Seven members of the public spoke during the two public comment periods. None spoke unequivocally in favor of the plan as written.

Kerry Treat Harrison, who said she was speaking on behalf of herself, her family, and several neighbors, urged the board to vote no on closing Calf Pen Meadow specifically. "Larger schools come with some inherent efficiencies, but the human impact on our community, which is difficult to measure and impossible to quantify, is also at stake," she said.

Babs Donnelly of 52 Meadowside expressed frustration with the meeting's pace and audio quality. "I know it's been a three-year process and I want to say the community appreciates all that you're doing," she said, "but the plan at any given iteration is like minutes old, and that's really scary for us as the public to hear that, like, you keep talking about it like this has been discussed for three years, but this thing that we saw tonight is now less than two hours old."

Amanda Clark of 58 Canterbury Lane proposed three specific modifications, including pairing elementary and middle school construction on the same side of town — the same approach Scobie advocated for — and not closing elementary schools until funding was secured for the second school on each side.

Brad Richards of 7 Pearson Avenue offered the most supportive comment, calling the plan "reasonable" while acknowledging it was not perfect. "Looking at the cost projections moving forward, if we do nothing, the costs are going to go up," he said. "Something has to be done."

Neal Breisowitz of 74 Overhull Road spoke twice, the second time raising concerns about equity. "There's going to be a lot of students who are left out of the advantages of that beam raising ceremony, of being part of a new school," he said. "There's no way to get equity in this town if we start with elementary schools. It's just not going to happen for over 15 years."

Steven Ringwald of 133 Meadowside Road said he was still trying to understand all of the elements of the plan. "It feels as though we're not quite there yet. I guess I'm maybe just echoing what some other people have already said."

Kristen Moshe of 40 Wilmar Avenue summarized the recurring theme: "This plan feels like a vision and not like a plan."

What Happens Next

Although the plan was adopted Monday night, no actual construction is funded or approved. Each individual project will go through Milford's annual capital improvement plan process, which requires Board of Education approval, then Board of Finance approval, then Board of Aldermen approval of bonding. The Board of Education will adopt a five-year capital improvement plan in May of each year — meaning the plan will be revisited and potentially revised annually.

The next step is a redistricting process for the elementary school boundaries, which Perkins Eastman recommended the board complete before construction begins so that new buildings are designed at the correct size. Glennon and other board members repeatedly emphasized their intention to redistrict only once.

The Board of Education's next regular meeting is Tuesday, May 26.