Bennett's Grand Opening
Refurbished School Gets Kudos From Kids And Nods Of Approval From All Else

By Violet Snow
            Although students and teachers have been installed at the new and renovated classrooms at Bennett Elementary School since the opening of school last month, Tuesday night marked the official opening of the new and improved Bennett, as Onteora school board president helped two Bennett students, Stephanie Walkowiak and Aidan Klein, to cut a ribbon across the school entrance. In a ceremony at the school board meeting, principal Laurie Cassel expressed gratitude to the education community for making the reconstruction project possible and conducted a tour of the new wing, much of which replaces the temporary modular classrooms that stood for thirty years. During the brief ceremony, Bennett graduate Emily Cole, now fifteen, made a speech reminiscing about her years at the school, including the day school was cancelled because of skunks having sprayed under the modulars. Prone to other problems from mold to litigation, the portable classrooms had originally been a stopgap measure to use until the school board could figure out what to do about overcrowding as Bennett enrollments rose. Redistricting of elementary schools and moving of sixth graders into the middle school were both vehemently opposed by parents, while students were crowded into every available space, from the stage to converted supply closets. In 2001, the voters approved the construction project that promised the end to overcrowding at a cost of $(could not find this figure) , and the promise has now been carried out.