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Administrators predict Fairfield Ludlowe’s enrollment will climb to more than 1,700 students by the 2015-2016 school year. The school’s current capacity is 1,400 students. With 1,517 students as of Jan. 2, Ludlowe is already over capacity. Fairfield Warde is five students shy of its capacity with 1,395 students, and expects to see enrollment rise as well.
The Board of Education is considering an expansion of Fairfield Ludlowe over the next few years. The current plan is to add two science labs, four standard classrooms and an expanded cafeteria. The school’s windows are also scheduled for replacement in the near future.
Superintendent David Title said Tuesday the town might also consider renovating student bathrooms and replacing Ludlowe’s 20-year-old roof while construction is under way, if the costs are not too high.
“The critical [projects] to deal with are the windows and the expansion, and what I’d consider to be the optional ones are the bathrooms and the roof,” Title said Tuesday.
Fairfield Ludlowe PTA chair Cathy Coyle asked the Board of Education to push the renovation plans through. She told the board that she wanted to end the practice of having “science on carts” caused by the lack of science labs in the school. She also noted that many teachers have to switch rooms frequently to accommodate the moving labs.
“Instructional time is lost every day as the displaced teachers must relocate class and lab materials and set up in a second room,” Coyle said.
Fairfield’s school board does not yet have cost estimates for any of the proposed work. Title expects the numbers to be ready when the board votes on the plan at the end of the month.
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