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Date: 4/7/2022
EAST LONGMEADOW – As the school department continues to undergo a Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) feasibility study for East Longmeadow High School, the School Committee discussed updates to the process during their March 28 meeting.
Superintendent Gordon Smith shared that the search for the feasibility study’s designer selection process is now down to three candidates. In January, the MSBA reviewed and accepted the district’s request for services. Working alongside the study’s selected project manager Skanska USA Building, Inc, the district began hosting design firms in February to tour the high school and receive a briefing about the project.
Smith said his office received eight design proposals before narrowing the final list of candidates down to three. “We as a district group met on March 9 to review those proposals…we went through them and became knowledgeable of all eight. All eight are able to do the job,” said Smith.
A week prior to the School Committee meeting, the superintendent shared that the district met with the MSBA Design Selection Panel. “We then again reviewed all eight proposals, and we went through one-by-one each proposal and commented on it. At the end, we went through a process of weighted voting. The top three firms were selected to interview on April 5,” said Smith.
By the end of the April 5 meeting, the school district intends to select a design firm, according to Smith. From there, the selected firm will work to solve some of the different challenges for either a comprehensive renovation of the existing structure or a new high school building.
Improving East Longmeadow High School remains one of Smith and the school department’s central goals. The 180 Maple St. location, which is over 60 years old, features its share of deficiencies, including water leaks from the roof, an overextended electrical system and small classroom sizes.
In a December interview with Reminder Publishing, Smith estimated that the new version of East Longmeadow High School will be ready to open for the 2027-2028 school year, at the latest.
The School Committee also discussed updates to the high school’s curriculum and schedule. After utilizing a semester-based schedule during the 2020-2021 school year, Principal Frank Paige shared the school will be returning to their usual full-year schedule for the 2022-2023 school year.
“I do see the value and the real need to return to full-year programing,” said Paige. The high school principal stressed that the full-year schedule will allow students more time to learn materials and prevent gaps in their learning process.
The East Longmeadow School Committee will meet again on April 11.