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Date: 1/9/2024
HOLYOKE — The demolition of Peck School was completed just before the new year and the district is now preparing for the next steps of the new middle school building project.
According to an update from the school district and Superintendent Anthony Soto’s weekly newsletter, filling and grading work will continue on the site throughout January and once that work is completed, the site will be level and ready for construction work to begin.
Bids provided by interested sub-contractors and general contractors will be reviewed this month, with the construction company being selected by the end of January, according to the district.
In June 2023, the City of Holyoke and the Massachusetts School Building Authority, also known as the MSBA, approved funding to build a new middle school for approximately 550 students. The new school has been in part of a larger city-wide effort to strengthen educational learning opportunities and reimagine the middle school experience.
The new middle school will replace the energy-inefficient and outdated design of the Peck School that was recently demolished. The school building no longer meets the needs of a modern education.
The total project will cost $85.5 million. When first approved the city thought they would be billed approximately $40 million of the total cost, and the MSBA would reimburse the remaining $46 million, however, in October 2023 the city was notified it would be on the receiving end of additional reimbursement.
It is estimated the additional funding will be approximately $11.7 million, which would bring the MSBA’s total contribution to an estimated $57.6 million. This would reduce the city’s share of the total construction costs to roughly $27 million, or 32% of the total cost.
“Tim Keane, a long-time Holyoke resident and engineer, has agreed to join the Middle School Building Committee, which oversees the project. His expertise will be beneficial as the project moves into the construction phase,” Soto added in the newsletter.
The next School Building Committee meeting is on Thursday, Jan. 25 at 6 p.m. via Zoom.
Soto explained further what building a new school has to do with improving student achievement.
“When a community considers whether to build a new school or improve existing buildings, it’s natural to wonder whether the investment improves student achievement,” Soto added in the newsletter. “Economists have disagreed for years about the impact capital spending has on student achievement, with some studies showing positive impacts while others don’t.”
As an example, Soto shared that Yale economist Barbara Biasi and colleagues Julien LaFortune of the Public Policy Institute of California and David Schonholzer of Stockholm University recently examined bond votes for capital projects involving billions of dollars in 17,000 communities across the U.S. to quantify the effects of school bond issues on student test scores and home prices.
“On average, authorizing new school bonds raises both student test scores and local home prices, but the effects depend on how the money is spent,” the researchers found. “Projects that raise student test scores — like improving HVAC systems or replacing roofs — are not likely to raise home prices. New athletic facilities, however, do raise home prices, but don’t increase test scores.”
Researchers also determined that bond authorization is most beneficial in districts with more disadvantaged student populations, in part because these districts prioritize bonds that improve learning.
Holyoke’s City Council and the MSBA recently authorized millions of dollars of investments in HPS buildings, including HVAC, roofing, windows, flooring and many other improvements.
“The new school is an important component of Holyoke’s efforts to strengthen educational learning opportunities and reimagine the middle school experience,” Soto said in closing. “The new middle school will replace the poorly designed, energy inefficient William R. Peck Middle School that no longer meets the needs of a modern education.”