Regional School District 15 trustees on Monday continued work toward replacing two aging elementary schools, reviewing site analyses, infrastructure constraints and a pair of state reimbursement incentives that officials said could substantially lower the local share of construction costs.

Superintendent Smith told the board that two recently enacted state laws create financial incentives for school construction: a 15% reimbursement on the entire building if the project includes an early‑childhood center, and an additional 15% reimburse­ment applicable to the square footage for specialized programs. "If we can capture that," Smith said, "that's a significant amount of dollars and savings to the local taxpayer." He cited a district estimate that the gross construction cost for two buildings could approach $200 million and that, after state reimbursement, the community share might be roughly $80 million for both schools combined.

The bulk of the meeting focused on site feasibility. Staff and the district's architect reviewed a long list of parcels, including a large IBM parcel listed for sale, the town‑owned Volpe/Bridal property, state‑owned Pierce Hollow (rezoned for affordable housing), and a Roxbury Road parcel. The IBM site, officials said, contains only about nine buildable acres without further subdivision and could cost the town an estimated $1.5 million to $2 million in annual tax revenue if taken out of the tax rolls. The Volpe property was described as having only about 3.2 buildable acres suitable for a school footprint. Pierce Hollow would require legislative action to change its current affordable‑housing zoning.

Trustees and the consultants emphasized constructability issues beyond acreage. Superintendent Smith and the architect described constraints including topography, septic capacity and access roads. On tying sewer and septic systems, Smith said the district is "exploring looking at the Rochambeau septic and whether or not we can tie a school behind PES into the Rochambeau system, and expand." Board members asked for more analysis of staging, swing space for students during construction, and how long facilities work would disrupt school operations.

Several trustees urged the district to keep searching and to produce clearer, public‑facing summaries of the feasibility work. "If people are driving around and they see a piece of land that looks really big ... owners have been contacted," one trustee said, but others pressed staff to model redistricting consequences and bus‑route impacts if a site outside the district's core were used.

Public comment focused on Roxbury Road. Leslie Pratt, who said she lives across the street from the parcel under discussion, urged the board to remove that site from consideration, saying the road is dangerous and that the land is locally treasured. "I just don't want it across the street from my house," Pratt said, and noted concerns about traffic and Heritage Village being "sandwiched by schools." Board members acknowledged the petition and public reaction and reiterated that the board is in a data‑gathering phase.

Board members also discussed the long‑term costs of renovating versus building new. Trustees reviewed consultant estimates showing that renovation—because of swing‑space rentals, asbestos abatement, and other soft costs—can approach the price of building new and take longer. Several members urged action now to preserve potential state reimbursements, which they said could be at risk if the laws change.

Next steps: staff will return with more detailed cost estimates and refined analyses of access roads, septic options, site staging and redistricting impacts. Several trustees asked for more concise materials for public consumption that summarize the committee's findings, the pros and cons for each site, and the timeline for a possible referendum.

Votes at a glance: the board approved the Oct. 27, 2025 regular meeting minutes following a motion and second; a roll call recorded affirmative votes from multiple members. The meeting adjourned following a motion and voice affirmation.