Norwalk: BOE Raiders of the Lost Jefferson School

According to the powers that be in Corda’s administration this is the year that the impending dangers about the intercom system at Norwalk High, must, simply must, be addressed. No matter that there’s some doubts expressed about what is wrong with the system, but $200k is being requested to fix the problem.

Buried in Amando Pinto’s article is the other shoe, that is the one that Opdahl promised to drop at the only BOE finance committee meeting held this year. Opdahl managed to skate past the paper tigers of the BOE with his request to raid the Jefferson School rennovation funds to add some things that were apparently “missed” in the grand plans of rennovaitng Norwalk High.

From The Hour:

At Tuesday’s meeting, board members briefly discussed other facets of the renovation —and voted to transfer $240,000 from the capital budget for drop ceilings and pipe covers and $120,000 for culinary equipment.The board also discussed the potential addition of a bathroom in a wing that currently would not have one.

The fund transfers, and potential planning change, will not be completed as quickly as the communications system will, Opdahl said.

Installation of a new integrated system — which will include phones, speakers and walkie-talkies — could be in place before the next school year, Opdahl said.

The process will be expedited as technicians can tie into wiring already in place for the building’s computer system, a method employed at Brien McMahon High School, he said.

Norwalk’s IT committee, facilities commission, and city counsel still have to sign off on the proposal before it can be sent out for bids, Opdahl said Wednesday afternoon.

Ah yes, we are familiar with this “expedited process.” Here’s my rendition. Opdahl screws up the project because there’s no project management plan in place, no accounting of construction costs versus scope of work, no oversight of contractor over runs, no questions ever asked by the BOE and no questions ever asked by Corda. Suddenly, without warning, Opdahl realizes, after something is built, that a major component is somehow missing. Rather than getting fired for incompetence, he merely requests more money, afterall the Norwalk taxppayers are a blank check, and fixes his mistakes. Why? Why isn’t there a serious inquiry into the last minute, gotta have the money now operation that Opdahl continues to inflict on the BOE and Common Council? Why are ceilings, and pipe covers, and trailers such last minute items when enrollment has continued to decline?

OK enrollment, is only tangentially connected to the current fiasco. But the serious question is that why isn’t the long term plan of school construction meshing with the reality that there will be less students? Thus redistricting, building maintenance and maximizing the use of what we have should be more of a priority? Will no one stand up for students of Jefferson, whose school renovation funds keep getting raided by Opdahl to pay for mistakes that would get any operations manager fired anywhere else?

source: The Hour, Locals alarmed on tardy school intercom remedy, By AMANDA PINTO, June 7, 2007

  • AnonymousDem

    More like paper dolls instead of tigers there TG. Keep up the good work.

  • Anonymous

    Jefferson school budget should never be touched. the conditions there are abominable. Ask any teacher how they are accomodated for teaching space. These teachers are trying to teach kids in spaces no larger than a clset and in some cases using teachers lounges and any other space they can find. What a damn shame! If Opdhal is not held accountable for his lack of oversight then we should be really ashamed. This man has fleeced the taxpayers for far too long. The PA system at Norwalk High is a very serious matter in that it doesn’t work!
    A lockdown drill 2 weeks ago is more proof of the horrendous neglect from Opdhal and all of his so called oversight. In case no one is aware of this, the lockdown drill was executed and half the building knew nothing about it. That includes those in authority. Some were in parts of the building and had no idea it was going on until after it was complete. can you imagine a Virginia tech or Columbine incident where half the school is unaware of the dangers? as far as the rest rooms go, can you imagine building a million dollar home only to dicover you have no bathrooms?(would you fire someone or just live with it.) Does outhouse sound attractive? Maybe a couple porta potties in the hallway.

  • Anonymous

    Glad to see someone is taking notice of what is going on and how our tax dollars are being spent. Could it be one of our elected officials lurking?

  • Grinder

    Did colombine have resource officers posted at the school?…I know VA tech has thieir own security force..With all the evening activities its pretty easy to start trouble in the bldg without anyone knowing…
    Remember the incident with the glueing of the door locks?…Far more needs to be done about security than just a working PA…Guess it’s a good start anyway..
    Larger problem is that the facilities director and Opdahl do not communicate well….

  • anony

    Jefferson needs it funding left along but I also don’t think this will be the last that is heard from or needed for Norwalk High, there’s another travesty. How can BMHS be so grand and wonderful and the other high school left begging for scraps? 1/2 the town’s kids will go here, our taxes pay equally for both schools, the NHS side of town’s property values are affected by the discrepancy (guess again if you don’t think homebuyers won’t notice the difference between the two). And if people don’t keep complaining now, while construction is still going on, it will be years before that school gets equal treatment. It shouldn’t have happened, it’s so clearly an unequal use of tax dollars.

  • Taxpayer

    Yes, NHS has an unattractive building, but there is no way to make that building look much better because of the type of construction. However, don’t expect the taxpayers to forget about the $40 million (probably more) already committed to that project and to go off and build another school. There has to be a sense of fiscal responsibility that takes precedence over high school rivalries.

    For many years, NHS had superior facilities, and now its BMHS’ turn. Eventually, the tables will turn again. Let’s not play games with the taxpayers’ money.

  • Aunt Bertha

    #5. For years and years people in the BMHS area had their complaints fall on deaf ears and NHS was the grand school in town. We give our current principal Joe Rodriguez credit for having a vision and for working for the support of others. You should have taken a look at the before pictures of BMHS before you speak of unfairness.

  • Question

    Why is it so easy to take funding from Jefferson’s account? It surely isn’t because the building doesn’t need serious help, and I haven’t seen any offer of state/federal funding for repairs. Is it because it has such a high percentage of Black and Hispanic parents and the thinking is that they aren’t as vocal and politically connected?

    I’m not trying to start a war here, so if anyone knows another reason, please tell me.

  • Aunt Bertha

    Could it be that Jefferson feeds into BMHS and the other side of town is back to their old tricks again? Why not take from one of their feeder schools?

  • Aunt Bertha

    How long and loud did it take Brookside parents to get their addition and renovation? They also had some really awesome parents that were relentless.

  • Anonymous

    In answer to all who asked the questions about Jefferson, you need to look at the one calling the shots. Can you say Opdhal is fleecing the taxpayers??? Until the BOE wakes up and admits he is a total loser nothing is going to go right. Again, The Mayor nor the council has jurisdiction over any spending by the BOE. They continuously allow this man to run rampant with taxpayers money.

  • anony

    #7, maybe I missed something, when was Norwalk High grand? 40 years ago? Maybe 20? It’s been a mess for as long as I’ve been in town, it was just a matter of which school was a bigger mess, not that one was wonderful, as BM is now, and the other still a slipslod mess. It appears that NHS has had a stronger band leader and that has generated alot of positive respect, and it has a very strong drama dept, but that has nothing to do with the facilities; it has not been a ‘grand’ school for a very long time (unless your idea of grand is old and beat up looking).

  • anon

    The Band leader at BMHS happens to be quite good and had turned the band into award winners. They have truly come into their own. Unfortunately Norwalk High carries the name of the town and tends to get more recognition up til now. But thats not to say that just because they get more attention that we shoulod allow the school to become downtrodden and shaby. BMHS is now a great looking and functional school and NHS deserves nothing less. But that is not to say tha anyone should take funding away from Jefferson School which in need of major refurbishing. Again, instead of pussyfooting around and nickle and diming the budget, Sal Corda needs to be taken to task for not addressing the overstaffing at the main office and make the necessary cuts to his own staff that are layers of beaurocracy.

  • anony

    Anony agrees with #9, this shouldn’t be a race between which side of town has the best high school, it should have been handled so that both sides had equal renovations, wonderful schools equal to what we’ve been taxed, which is alot. All our town children eventually enter one or the other. Our neighboring towns only have one high school a piece, so each is a wonderful focal point. Many of our wealthy parents in neighboring towns send their kids to private school from k-8 and then to the local high school for the remainder since that sits well with college admissions and they also get to have a great high school experience—this town pays too much taxes to have something this important to be down so poorly and then cause a cross town war. Norwalk High won’t even be painted on the outside, that wasn’t included in the bid?! What’s that all about.

  • Wondering

    I’m still wondering what is the source of money for making NHS look as good as BMHS. NHS has $40 million now and the city’s bonded indebtedness is already straining. The city is overbuilding at the high school level because the population bubble has already passed through the elementary schools, and it is most of the way through the middle schools. Enough is enough.

  • Bewildered

    WOW! Hostile? The initial budget cut many things out of NHS. Now we are finding that getting things “fixed” isn’t working and something needs to be done. How about equity in schools? NHS isn’t asking to be another McMahonsion. NHS is looking for a security system that works, a place for the staff and students to go to the bathroom and some paint. No one there is asking to be just as beautiful as McMahon.

    Did anyone notice that the funds for the intercom were coming from money left from Kendall and other completed projects? People should research and learn before accusing people. Opdahl isn’t at fault for a system that couldn’t be repaired properly and now needs replacement? Would you prefer he keep throwing more money into repairs that don’t last and cause new problems?

    Please, please, deal with the facts and don’t go bashing people and making unfounded accusations. Let’s look for equity for the entire district and stop fighting over “sides” in town. All our kids deserve to be treated well. Can’t justify punishing the current student body because one from many years ago had it good. Let’s be reasonable.

  • Anonymous

    Bewildered-WOW! Hostile? The initial budget cut many things out of NHS
    Thats a lot of BS-Budget cuts did not need to be made that would effect the schools or the students. The budget was set so that the BOE would finally be held accountable for their spending sprees. There is absolutely no reason why when the renovations were being designed that these improvements were not included. And yes, Opdhal is responsible. he’s the one with the never ending checkbook balance that has no hindsight when it comes to what is need and what is not. Again, what about the unpacked kitchen equipment, what about the modular classrooms, what about his son going on a shopping spree to re equip a woodshop into a silkscreening classroom, what about building a science wing without bathrooms? Come on, get real. Norwalk High School students and Brien McMahon students deserve equal representation here. These kids want the same education and surroundings they are equal in all ways and shouldn’t be shunned because there is no oversight by an incompetent Chief Operating Officer. Thats his job!

  • Mr Greenpeace

    To think I was worried about the radon issue and remediation, well partner I will have to just take a number and wait in line.