By Nathan Duke
Staff Writer

Bartlett Elementary School students attempt to shoot baskets in the gym/cafeteria, but it's difficult with the vending machines in the way. Warrant articles 3 and 4 will establish funds for a study and a capital reserve account for upgrades at the school. (Nathan Duke Photo)

Bartlett Elementary School might be able to begin steps to improve a number of the school’s facilities if Article 3 and Article 4 on the school board’s ballot pass at Goffstown's March 8 election.

Article 3 asks to set aside $25,000 in the budget for a renovation study of the school building and the portable directly behind it that houses the school's library. If there is any money left over from this year's budget, the passage of Article 4 would allow up to $300,000 in funds be put toward a capital reserve fund.

Whenever new construction or renovation to the school is undertaken, the fund will already have money in it to offset the total cost. The board would need the approval of voters not only to create the fund, but also to spend any money from it.

School board member Scott Gross said the school has been in desperate need of renovation for a number of years and currently does not have nearly enough space to house all of the school's students adequately.

"This building is busting at the seams," he said. "There are also heating and ventilation problems and a major electrical issue in the lunchroom."

Gross urged voters to visit the school and take a tour of its facilities before they vote, regardless of whether they support the two articles or not.

The computer system at Bartlett is housed in a basement closet. (Nathan Duke Photo).

"My estimation is that 90 percent of Goffstown residents have never stepped foot in this building before," he said.

Principal David Bousquet said that nearly every classroom of every grade is in need of some sort of upgrade, as well as the school's gym/lunchroom, the kitchen, the playground and the nurse's office, many of which don't have enough space.

Nurse Jeannine Laroche, who has worked at Bartlett for 27 years and was recently named Goffstown's citizen of the year, said that her tiny corner office, located next to the principal's office and reception desk, feels crowded when only two people are in it. The infirmary includes a small bed tucked into the corner and does not have a bathroom. The closet is directly behind the reception desk.

"It's good that these kids are little," she said. "On some days, I'll have one sitting on the bed and one sitting on my lap so we can all have a place to sit."

The school's gym/lunchroom is also lacking in space. Nearly 50 children waited to be picked up after school on a recent Friday, all of them packed into the gym.

The tiny kitchen with one stove and enough room for three to five people to squeeze around each other is located at the lefthand back corner of the gym.

In the right corner is the basketball rim and court, where two soda machines are located nearly right underneath them. As a group of boys play basketball, the ball constantly bounces off the top of one of the machines. Gross said with the gym's size and the school's student body, it is difficult for the room to properly fit students' sporting and eating needs.

"There are safety issues," he said. "For example, you can't really play basketball because you'll run into the (soda) machines."

On the school's bottom floor reside Bartlett's pre-school classes, which are located in one large room that is separated by large shelves. Bousquet said despite the school's excellent preschool faculty, teachers often struggle to maintain control over the sound levels of the room.

"Without walls to separate, it gets very loud in here," he said. Around the corner is the small room where the two special education teachers share space. Extension cords are strewn on the floor from wall sockets to computers.

Bousquet said he is concerned about the potential hazards that the cords pose but, like the many tight-quartered sections of the school, little can be done until the results of the March election are seen.

"The fire department frowns on it, but knows that there is nothing we can do about it," he said. "It's all the space we have."