hi welcome to c c t v is live at five twenty five my name is claire wall and i'm the school board chair the burlington school district with me tonight is student b h s senior student isaac gentleman  graduate of two thousand eight hundred tatum vasher oh and city councilor dave hartnett we will be discussing tonight a bond ballot vote that will be happening on november sixth and we'd like to hear from you  viewers you can call it eight six to three nine six six if we can answer any questions but i'll start off to say we were extremely fortunate and proud of our support from the city council and mayor moreau weinberger for working with us over the last four months in developing a debt policy and a memorandum of agreement moving the bond valid ballot bond item on the ballot this is the first time the school board in the fifty five years of the building of b h s has had a bond on the ballot of this magnitude it has been fifty five years since the school was built and we feel that in two thousand and eighteen it does not refer meet the needs of our students we have a population right now of nine hundred fifty four students w population that will be growing over the course of the next two or three years both our middle schools are at capacity and we have the good fortune of living in a city where growth is inevitable with the development of cambrian rise and also city place so we are looking forward to the next five years in the future of p h s and tonight we want to share with you  devotion and commitment to this high school and ask for your support in november for this bond isaac can you share with me as a student in the past four years  your senior year your thoughts on why it's important now for the citizens of growing to support renovation and new development at the high school teacher i think it's clear that just going throughout the high school the the work that's needed to maintain the building and that work is becoming less and less efficient as we go on with issues with water leakage and he and energy leakage from the building as well as the just lack of accessibility in general we are nowhere near in compliance with the american it's with disabilities act we have this giant black ramp in the high school right now basically serving as a substitute for an actual accessibility ramp which you know we definitely need and throughout the high school we have a couple elevators that have been installed recently but there's classes that students cannot get to and cannot participate in because they can't reach them because of their mobility and their well say and tatum thank you for coming back as a graduate and we know that you are busy and we appreciate your time and reflecting back on your four  years and growing up in the burlington school district can you share with us your thoughts of being a student at p h s and why you think it's important for us to renovate and asked the citizens of burlington to support this bond yes so for me i've been an athlete burlington high school for the last four years and we have one of the best societies in the state but our school dist doesn't reflect toughest syllabi so when i go on the soccer field you know i want to give it my all because i know we have the best facilities we have a great team we have good coaches so there for me i want to give my best effort when you walk in to be a chess it looks the same as when my dad was in high school and like i it doesn't make you want to give your best because you see that our school is in the best condition that it can be and what it should be for the technology that we have today our school should match what our technology is twenty first century yeah you're saying yeah you learn differently the computers were invented you need outlets in your classrooms to look at yeah and  right in two thousand and six i know councilor how hard it was instrumental long with a lot of parent volunteers and faculty and staff to renovate and put forth over a three plus million dollar bond to renovate all our athletic fields and we have a turf with lights at night and we do host those state championships that you speak of so we put that investment in athletics which is incredibly valuable over sixty percent of our student athletes participate in  extracurricular activities and and sports so thank you i really appreciate your your point of view and councilor hartnett thank thanks i'm already here to help represent the growing to school district which i'm proud of actually years ago that you know we need a new high school and whether you know remodeled or do but she kind of she kind of put the wheels you know in motion and so this conversation just didn't happen overnight there was there's been a long conversation about which direction we should go in and i'm glad that we're here today because it is desperately needed in our city we live in a world class city and we have world class people we have world class teachers and as you can see here we have world class student  bodies and in our school doesn't match that and that's unfortunate and so when i when i look at this ask of seventy million dollars from the taxpayers of bryant and it's time for us to make a decision do we wan make a commitment to our community not just to our high school but to our community because that's really what this is all about right we as clear mentioned you know we we continue to build homes we continue to want people to move to our city but here's the bottom line they're not going to come to our city if we continue to allow this high school to really just fall apart which has made its it's unfortunate because i went there and for me to say i said that the city council i'm pretty straightforward i mean really the buildings the dump and i can't say it any other way i mean i went by there today it was pouring rain out and my only thought was how much rain is coming in that building and are the kids using umbrella's to get the class to class because it's literally that bad some there  that days when it rains you know and there's no excuse for that not here in burlington right where everyone says you know we in one of the most little cities and people want to come here and live and unfortunately right now i think what's happening is that you know a lot of people are moved to we're going to option to buy a house probably and shelburne or an essex junction and what's that's what that causes our property taxes are probably values to lower as well i mean and so for the families out there that don't have kids in school anymore who say why should i invest in this there's a lot of reasons why that you should invest in this i mean not only the fact that you should be proud to live in burlington and be proud to have a fantastic high school which we have but you know this building i hope  and will talk about it more today will be assessable to all brawn tony and you know that we're going to have an extra gymnasium in this building we're going to have extra classrooms in this building and meeting places where you know seniors could possibly use it you know we put the miller center together the new north and that's kind outgrown its space you can even get a room at the miller center for meeting or pickle ball whatever it is so i think this is going to be a facility not only a fabulous high school facility for students and give them the learning environment that they need to succeed but also a building that we can all be proud of your brought to and so i strongly support it i know the city council does i know we're going to be working hard for the next four or five weeks to get this passed and you're it's just you know you're going to hear about it tonight but you're going to you're the town hall meeting set up you're going to see a press conference this week from the broad school district this is something that we're going to work very hard on and so i appreciate being here tonight and i hope we can get the support from  are sort of a detailed explanation of how the proposed plan will improve the education of our high school students as isaac mentioned the a d a s and energy benefits of a renovated high school have long been clear and our understanding is that these strategies for significantly addressing these issues with considerably less investment than currently is being proposed and we appreciate all the input that those families that worked as volunteers to address these accessibility concerns and those that went through the school and managed but we also for over the last it's now since two thousand and eight and yes it's very appropriate to give  accessibility and efficiency category and we were put on warning and in that we did make some minor upgrades but again in two thousand and seventeen we had the same accreditation it happens every eight years and we are still receive their warning grade because we had yet to meet those accessibility issues along with accessibility a law that was passed as act seventy seven for a proficiency based learning and that really speaks to the need for twenty first century learning that means that we need space where not only do we have place grading and again a welcome learning environment more silo learning i think we can show you an overview of the campus that for those of you that haven't been to be h s in a while it's made up of six different buildings with including the tech center and so the aerial really does give you a sense of the main building is where all the heating comes from and all the heat efficient but things that we look at and when you look at the bullet points as you can read them and i think it's important to take time here to identify what those challenges are and why that number  why we came to that number of seventy million in two years ago the city helped the district and m g was brought in to do a facilities analysis of burlington high school along with the other nine eight schools and they identified over thirty million dollars worth of inefficiencies and upgrades that would need to happen if the campus were to exist  in the last three years we looked at potentially building a whole new high school and the cost was over one hundred million one hundred ten million dollars so to identify a project that we believe meets our needs  for seventy million dollars and identifies these challenges such as inefficient insulation and windows if you tour which we hope you will over the next five weeks we'll be offering  tour a week after business hours so that those working can attend and on the weekends you'll see the a lot of the windows are all foggy and students looking out the windows or there are ineffective and efficient and the the building which we can talk to as a whole group safety issues the points of entry in burlington high school is alarming these buildings  are made up of many different doors that have no alarm system and students can come and go and there really are there is not a secured entrance at our school in two thousand and eighteen as we sit here today you know it is the doors are open and these the safety is of of great concern to many and faculty and what would you you know how do you feel about the access coming in and out of the buildings checkpoints security will start with you i mean just thinking back to today like i used for different entrances to get into the building which for me works great but in terms of safety and security that's not what we want as a high school and so this new building plan really uses a building as its kind of center and it allows for one central access point which really allows school administrators and teachers to one point last year there's school shooting in florida and we're talking about in class and how our school really doesn't have a good security system of how they know who's coming and going  the building and for me it just kind of unsettled me and that that the school shooting could happen anywhere and i feel like it just isn't have a good plan or good enough security system for preventing that from happening or just knowing who's coming and going through a building and communication like we talk about if you were to go on the tour and you see you know it has the old intercom system that is an operable or a lot of the clocks you know obviously teachers leave and buy a clock at a store as so because we're still going off the same intercom system we do and that communication lockdown drills at the high school routinely and we last year in two separate classes we missed the lockdown because the intercom system in the classroom just was no longer functioning and so while it was a drilled out time if it were ever an actual lockdown or an actual security situation would have not been prepared or informed of that event and that's a good point i think we because we live in burlington vermont and it's such a great place to live right we think that will never happen here and we hope it doesn't right but you know even of that if anything ever happened at the high school to your point i do not think we're prepared for at all and you know for parents today that's an uneasy feeling right there should be no better feeling right than send your kids to school right you give them warning you start your day you hope your kids ever great day at school and is send them off right and there shouldn't be any fear factors and honestly you can't say that today that particular at the high school died is just it's really a nightmare security wise and it to nobody's fault really because you know times that we live in and stuff but you know we could speak about safety we also talked about the efficiency of the buildings and the heating system i mean you were sharing a story with me earlier that you i didn't realize this but you were your wonder jacket every day during the winter she had to wear winter jacket to stay warm i mean really i mean that's unacceptable right in that sense and so these are stories that we're just hearing today for the first time that i've heard that i'm thinking to myself this this is this is what the the most little city  is at their high school this is what we're saying is ok that we're willing to build first class downtowns and were willing to put all this beautiful housing in and we certainly want to fix up the auditorium and you know i got to tell the bront if you're listening out there all this stuff is great i support that stuff but that won't make it a bit of difference if we don't have a first class high school because families are coming here if we don't and that's the bottom line and so this is why i think this is probably for me probably the most important issue that i've weighed in on in eight years as a counselor i said that night at the council meeting i meant it it needs to get done committed to get it done and to hear these stories to around the table i mean it's just a just a small example why it needs to be done so i'm really proud of you guys for being here today to do the same show and it is unifying i mean when we think about if you're a new family and you're here you have a pre k student or a kindergarten or all of our schools all lead to be h s so it is our you know mothership of schools that you know it really gives the opportunity for everyone to meet their once you go to edmunds or hunt middle school and it has served the students that have come out of there have benefited greatly you know a much appreciation to a faculty and staff for the graduation rate that we have in our burlington technical center  and the faculty and staff there in our para educators it is it is you know great work comes out of b h s and it's time we feel you know for this bond we appreciate that do you want to speak to i know it's off topic a little but if people are wondering i know that they'll be to bond items on the ballot you know i mean the water one is pretty self explanatory and i really i want to i want to vote the past and i think that there are vital that they pass smartly here this way right that is going to be a small fee of five dollars and sixty seven cents in your water bill each month to take care of lake champlain and to me a very inexpensive way to clean up our water and i think i applaud the city and i think we've done a great job and chief and spencer and his crew has done a fabulous job this is a whole different you know ballgame here this is a big series no question about it but it is an ass that really needs to  we had a conversation about a month ago what have we really gone out and asked the taxpayers or brewington to support for us that would make us a better city really and when you think about it there isn't a lot right there isn't a lot you know we brought the brawn to police station but a lot of money was donated there were there's other things in the city that we've done but a lot of private donations and stuff i think is the first and i can really say that we've gone out to the voters and said listen we need this it's a big ask it's a big commitment there's going to be sacrifices but at the end of the day we're going to be a better better city for it all the way around in and so i i'm glad it's on in november it needs to pass someone said well can what happens if it doesn't pass some say well we'll come back in march well i don't want to think that way this this needs a pass and no member it should pass and i'm hoping with the work that we can do in the next five or six weeks that we will get it passed and i think a couple things that might be important people might be wondering you know about when will construction star when will it and i think i think it will the kids stay at the high school during this construction period and the answer to some of those questions are construction will start in two thousand and twenty hopefully if it know a lot of those questions have been asked i think another question's been asked ok we're putting seventy million dollars into this date where does that get us well it gets us another fifty or sixty years for sure if not more the company that's doing the work has an exceptional reputation i've done a lot of work in the state around schools i visited a school up in the oil oil high school that they did some work to you go into this school and it was a remodel just like the high school at brighton and it was a you without you were in a brand new high school  yes seventy million dollars is a big price tag but it warrants it it needs it and i think when we get this done we can all look back and say you know what we're proud of the work we did we're proud of the students that have gone there and you know clear talked about the student body i've said this for many years i'll say it again we've gotten a lot more the student body has given us a lot more than we've given the high school we have an exceptional stuff there we have an exceptional student body i was at the graduation this year to hear some of these that these kids received these top ten in the nation i mean i would invite anybody if you have been to be a h s graduation and a long time maybe your kids are graduated maybe you kids didn't even go to brunch and you moved in if you ever heard how that opportunity usually it's a friday in june the first friday in june or second friday somewhere in that time frame go to be h s graduation go sit there and just look at the student body that we have in the faculty  have and there were wards at these kids recently and the two of them are sitting here today i mean it's just an amazing student by we have and we owe it we owe it to our community we go to our students to get this done well said i couldn't have said it we hope to get your support we need your support are saying it's your support and our students and like they said if you are a retiring here we welcome you to come and i'm happy to give you a tour  over the next five weeks and our number is here we have five minutes left or four minutes now but again you can reach myself chair the board claire will on the burlington school district website i will answer every e mail or question that you have our website is an incredible outlet of information historically going back in the last eighteen years where we have come from to where we are now in the plans and preparation of this bond  ask and the reason why i had brought up the sewer just to you know the school district recognizes that bond and we recognize that it's a municipal john and so we we value that and we i don't want you to have to choose between one of the other and we believe that the time is now for the citizens of brian to me to make this investment in the high school it is sort of the heartbeat the largest economic engine that drives people to want to move to burlington and create an environment in the city we want that thrives and last words for just students something important to remember and it struck me at one of our school board meetings was that every year that we push this project back it costs our city more money during the recording and so if you were a taxpayer listening to th saying seventy million dollars that's a lot of money five ten years from now it's going to be more than seventy million so we've really this this needed to be done when mr mellencamp looked at it and even further back than that and so seventy million dollars is expensive now but it's that that's a good feeling is that i hear you agree a hundred percent so thank you very much for tuning in and listening we are very appreciative to be able to be here and share our our commitment to burlington