New paint, new flooring and new lighting will welcome Duxbury students when they walk through the doors on the first day of school today. Superintendent Benedict Tantillo told the school committee last week that his department had been busy making repairs and upgrades to all four Duxbury schools.

Both Chandler and Alden elementary schools will be brighter inside and out. This is due to the addition of new lights inside at Chandler and Alden. New LED exterior lights have been installed at Alden and all exterior lights at Chandler have been replaced, said Tantillo.

Students will notice that many carpets have been removed at Chandler and replaced with rubberized flooring, he added.

There have been upgrades at the Performing Art Center, too. The band practice room has been soundproofed and inside the PAC the lower level side walls have been freshened up with new paint.

Tantillo said that the PAC also needed some roof repairs. An emergency drainage hole was installed near the heating/air conditioning unit on the roof because water was pooling around it. Tantillo said his department will keep an eye on this problem but if the drainage repair does not work, then that section of the roof may have to be replaced in the future.

Despite their future demolition, both the middle and high school received some new paint and were thoroughly cleaned, said Tantillo.

School Committee member Maureen Connolly praised Tantillo and the school department for the maintenance and upgrades, saying that she has heard many complaints from residents in the past that the schools did not do enough to maintain their buildings.

“I believe our staff has stepped it up,” responded Tantillo.

These upgrades will be seen by at least 122 new students, according to Tantillo. As of last Wednesday, the school department had registered 172 new students; however, fifty existing students transferred out of the district, he said.

There are 20 new kindergarteners, 34 new first graders, 15 new third graders, 13 new seventh graders, 10 new eighth graders and 15 new ninth graders, said Tantillo. The high school will accommodate 33 new students total. 

There are currently 177 students enrolled in kindergarten. This consists of 151 full-day kindergarten students, which translates into seven full-day classes. There are 26 half day kindergarten students.

To meet the influx of students, Tantillo said there are 21 new teachers, 21 new instructional assistants and a new assistant principal at the high school.

School Department Business Manager Susan Nauman addressed some budget issues saying that the schools were able to both purchase some additional capital items at the end of the budget year and turn back approximately $30,000 in unused budget funds to the town when the budget closed at the end of June.

Nauman said that savings in the heating budget line item due to a mild winter allowed her to purchase brackets and electrical services so that overhead projectors could be hung from the ceilings at the Alden school. Also, the schools were able to buy some mimios, which are interactive white boards, and some slates, which are wireless tablets.

“These meet some of the needs that we couldn’t get funded in the beginning of the year,” said Nauman. “But we still turned back more money than we’ve given back in years past.”

Nauman said she had a budget schedule ready for the school committee and expected to issue them their materials the first week in September. Nauman said the school department’s initial capital budget requests will be due on Oct. 3 and the level service budget and school needs budget on Oct. 17.

Tantillo said that one budget item he wants to go over with the town finance department is the $30,000 fee the town plans to charge the schools for the fourth grade swim program.

“To me, it all comes out of the same pocket,” said Tantillo. “I’ll be working with the town on this.”

The school committee also discussed the site work that has begun for the new middle/high school project. There are new traffic patterns, new parking areas, and new signs delineating parking and no parking areas. Tantillo urged residents to download the document on the schools’ Web site that shows new traffic patterns.

Tantillo said he had two pieces of advice for students and parents during the first few weeks of school: “We’re asking people to do two things: get here early and have patience.”

He said they also needed to obey the new signs.

“People have to realize it will be a little hectic for the next couple of years and they need to keep cool,” he added.

There will be weekly updates about the school construction project posted on the district Web site.