SHS AT 35: TIMELINE

We kick off our celebration of Southington High School's 35th anniversary on Pleasant Street with a look back at how the move from Main Street began. The story of the Pleasant Street SHS goes back to 1968 when the Board of Education made it known it was pursing the construction of a new high school. The Main Street high school was bursting at the seams after 18 years. Instead of building an additional high school, the board decided to construct one building that would accommodate 2,400 students. The town hosted a public hearing on April 23, 1969 that explained the decision to construct one school and why time was of the essence. Here’s a synopsis of how E. Jean Nichols of the New Britain Herald saw it in her coverage the next day:
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Once again the pros and cons of one large 2,400-pupil high school as opposed to two smaller high schools were expressed by a small group of people at the public hearing called by the Board of Finance, who were looking for answers to some of its questions…In opening the meeting, Finance Board chairman Patrick Delahunty said the taxpayers were about to take on the largest tax burden ever so he wanted all issues to be out in the open. He said the finance board was in favor of schools and children, but he didn’t know what its decision would be on this issue….Henry Forgione of the school board gave a brief summary of the board’s reasons for choosing one large high school instead of constructing a small high school to be used in conjunction with the present one. The main reason would be that better education could be offered if all the pupils were under one roof. Special programs could be offered because of the number of students available. Forgione also stated that in a few years there will be a need for an elementary school. If one large high school is constructed now, the old high school can be used as either a junior high school or as a large elementary school, with some remodeling. The school board felt that one large high school was more economical than to construct one small high school and an elementary school…Gerald Gingras, a member of the finance board and a retired teacher, said one large high school would only lead to trouble because of the dope problem now prevalent in all high schools of the state…The school board said it has no idea how long a 2,400-pupil high school would be adequate for the town. It is possible, said Superintendent of Schools John Farr, that by 1980 another 2,400-pupil high school would be needed. Enrollment could not be projected that far…There was talk of holding an advisory referendum now to get the feeling of the townspeople since this meeting was attended by only 40 townspeople and the previous public hearing was no better attended.

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Next: The voters put their two cents in...