State officials approve next step for middle school

Date: 8/16/2011

Aug. 17, 2011

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor

CHICOPEE — Mayor Michael Bissonnette told the School Committee on Aug. 10 he hopes the search for an architect to transform the former Chicopee High School into a middle school will take place this fall with preliminary plans completed by next spring.

He admitted the timeline was “pretty aggressive.”

Bissonnette said the cost of the project is estimated at $15 million with the city receiving a reimbursement from the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) of $9 million. He noted the city would only borrow the $6 million difference.

He said city officials are looking at the MSBA’s Green Schools initiatives to see how one of them might apply to the new middle school. According the MSBA Web site, “These programs include updated standards for new and major renovation/addition projects as well as improved sustainable requirements for repair projects. The MSBA also requires and pays for the entire cost of building commissioning for all MSBA-funded projects to ensure that these buildings operate efficiently and as designed.”

School Committee member Deborah Styckiewicz said constituents have asked about the lack of fencing around the new Belcher School, particularly separating the school grounds from a wooded area.

Bissonnette said that when the city bought the former St. Patrick’s School, a survey indicated the Diocese of Springfield had allowed abutters to build onto one parcel of the property. The mayor has been in contact with the diocese to clear up the matter and so far it has been “unresponsive.”

If fence was erected, it would have to be within the property line to avoid ownership issues, he explained.

School Superintendent Richard Rege said the sewer work in the Chicopee Falls neighborhood had impacted the release of bus schedules. He said students from the Belcher School, the Sgt. Robert R. Litwin School and the Edward Bellamy Middle School from that neighborhood would be affected as new bus stops are being determined.

At this time, the School Department is waiting for the project contractor to supply detour routes. Parents in the neighborhood will receive phone calls through the ConnectED system about the bus stops and routes.

Rege also announced that students in grades one through nine would begin school Sept. 6, grades 10 through 12 on Sept. 7 and preschool and kindergarten on Sept. 12.

Although some communities are beginning before Labor Day, Bissonnette said, “It’s bad policy to send students back before Labor Day.”

He added that schedule does give the system less flexibility to deal with multiple snow days.