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Date: 12/18/2019
EAST LONGMEADOW – After applying for funding through the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) for the East Longmeadow High School (ELHS) for six years in a row, the MSBA hosted a meeting on Dec. 11 where they voted favorable action for ELHS to enter the eligibility period.
Nearly one year ago at the Jan. 7, 2019 meeting where the East Longmeadow School Committee met to discuss their recent denial by the MSBA, Superintendent Gordon Smith explained that they had applied once again for the “core program.” The core program is run by the MSBA, and it looks at high schools and their potential for a new building following a statement of interest that is submitted by the superintendent and school committee.
Toward the end of March of this year, the school committee and superintendent hosted State Sen. Eric Lesser, state Rep’s Brian Ashe and Angelo Puppolo along with Treasurer Deb Goldberg and members of the Mass. School Building Authority’s (MSBA) to tour the high school. Following the tour, there was a meeting for the groups to discuss what they saw and the submission process.
From that meeting, at the end of April, the school committee and Smith submitted their sixth statement of interest for ELHS, hoping that this would be the year their statement was approved.
On Dec. 11, the MSBA announced that ELHS was selected to enter the 270-day eligibility period, where the MSBA will work with the district to determine the district’s financial and community readiness to enter the MSBA Capital Pipeline.
“The Board has voted the East Longmeadow High School into the eligibility period,” said Treasurer Deborah B. Goldberg in a statement. “The MSBA will work collaboratively with local officials to ensure the best outcome for the district’s students.”
Smith told Reminder Publishing that the school committee is excited to be invited into the eligibility period.
“We are really excited to be one of 11 school districts invited into the Massachusetts School Building Authority's Eligibility Period for a potential comprehensive project at East Longmeadow High School. We have been submitting a Statement of Interest to the MSBA for the last six years. Each year the district would begin the process of submitting a new Statement of Interest in January for final submission in April,” he explained. “It is an incredibly competitive process, and the MSBA staff have been incredibly helpful with their support and guidance over that time.”
The 270-day eligibility period for East Longmeadow begins on June 1, 2020. Smith noted that the date is selected by the MSBA so that not all 11 school districts are working on the requirements at exactly the same time.
“We may begin working on some of the requirements before June 1, but the official 270-day period begins on June 1,” he shared. “The next step as explained to us by MSBA staff is for the district to complete the preliminary requirements pertaining to local approval as well as the other requirements of the Eligibility Period. This will include completing the initial compliance certification, providing more information to the MSBA on the educational programming in place at ELHS, providing enrollment projections for future years, giving more specific information on the maintenance and capital planning process in town, and the eventual formation of a local school building committee.”
MSBA Executive Director Jack McCarthy stated that the eligibility period is a “critical step” in the MSBA’s “process of evaluating potential work on the East Longmeadow High School.” He continued, “We look forward to our continued partnership with the district as it enters the eligibility period.”
Once the eligibility period requirements are completed successfully and on time, the district becomes eligible for an invitation into the feasibility study phase of the MSBA Capital Pipeline. This is subject to a vote of the MSBA Board of Directors.
“The MSBA provides guidance and time frames for each of the requirements. If invited into the Feasibility Study phase, this study will provide very specific and detailed information on potential projects that could be accomplished at ELHS with the assistance of the MSBA grant program.”
Smith noted that the study may take a full year to complete.
Since 2004, the MSBA has made over 1,750 site visits to over 250 school districts as part of its “due diligence process” and has made over $14.1 billion in reimbursements for school construction projects.