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Stamford school board solidifies cuts to charters, dumps facilities manager

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A packed crowd gathered in the Stamford Government Center on May 29 for a meeting of the Stamford Board of Education.

A packed crowd gathered in the Stamford Government Center on May 29 for a meeting of the Stamford Board of Education.

Sophie Vaughan / Hearst Connecticut Media

STAMFORD — The Board of Education made several large decisions regarding facilities management, school funding, and new pilot programs at the board’s Tuesday night meeting.

The board cut $50 thousand from each of the city’s charter schools — Stamford Academy and Trailblazers Academy, which are both run by the nonprofit Domus.

Superintendent Tamu Lucero announced the district will not renew the contract for the schools facilities management company, ABM Industries. The mold crisis in many of the district’s facilities prompted formation of a mold task force in the fall, and under the new facilities management model, the task force will become an “asset management group” that will bring care of school facilities in-house. Under the new model, five people will be hired to oversee about five schools each.

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In a close 5-4 vote, the board voted down $50 thousand for a two-principal pilot program aimed at aiding the district’s struggling Roxbury Elementary School.

By the same margin, the board voted in favor of a $150 thousand appropriation for the Springboard Reading Program, a new collaborative for closing the literacy gap set to be based at Westover Magnet Elementary School over the summer.

svaughan@hearstmediact.com; 203-964-2265; @SophieCVaughan1

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Sophie Vaughan was formerly a reporter with Hearst Connecticut Media Group.