Darien School District staff outlined major capital needs on the district’s five‑year plan, saying Middlesex Middle School’s roof membrane and boilers are nearing the end of their useful life and that the high school faces a multimillion‑dollar roof replacement in the near term.

The most immediate concerns, staff said, are Middlesex’s roof and boilers, which the district has patched but which are “dry, brittle, cracking, and starting to fail,” and “the boilers, same thing,” according to Kevin, a district staff member who presented the facilities update. He said the district can still provide heat now but that the equipment is “getting past their useful life.”

Why it matters: the board was presented with figures showing a sharp increase in capital need in a single fiscal year — roughly $8 million to $9 million for the high school roof as presented in the discussion — and was told those figures do not include design fees or escalation. Staff emphasized the timing because the district is weighing a facility study and potential full capital project that would move design and construction into fiscal 2028.

The facility study and project timeline
Kevin said the Middlesex study reflects construction in fiscal 2028, with about one year for design and one year for construction if the board decides to pursue a full capital project. He described the sequence: once the board accepts study recommendations, the district would produce educational specifications, request the town to convene a building committee, and then hire architects and proceed toward bids.

“Anything over a million dollars requires [a] building committee. Then we go for state reimbursement in that process,” Kevin said, describing the procedural threshold that would trigger additional municipal and state steps.

Board concerns and enrollment context
Board members pressed staff about smoothing peaks in the capital plan and the timing of projects; one member said the jump to a $8–9 million roof in one year felt abrupt and asked how the district could balance the plan across years. Staff acknowledged the concern and said they will re‑request a high school study in the operating budget after a similar request was cut last year.

Staff also noted the Middlesex building was constructed for about 900 students and that the study projects enrollment approaching about 1,200 in coming years; the 2001 addition was cited as evidence the building has “very good bones.”

Other capital items listed
Staff closed the capital ask by listing several continuing projects and equipment replacements: asphalt and parking‑lot repaving that has been staged across schools, a replacement cycle for fleet vehicles, replacement school radios to maintain communications with local police, and a proposed generator transfer switch for central office. Kevin said the transfer‑switch request would not replace an existing generator but would improve the district’s ability to reestablish power from the street; he cited two power outages at two schools in a single week as timely context for that request.

Fields and potential partnership
Board members asked about athletic fields and prior involvement by the Darien Foundation. Kevin said foundation representatives expressed interest in partnering on field replacements; in the interim, the district has increased maintenance and seam repairs to extend field life. He said fields at Center Oval are older by about two years than the East Stadium and baseball fields.

Public comment and next steps
There were no public commenters on the items. A motion to adjourn was made at the end of the meeting and the meeting closed. The board did not take formal votes on appropriations or authorizations for the projects discussed; staff said any appropriation and building‑committee request would be the district’s next formal steps if the board elects to move forward after the study.