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Date: 3/26/2015
LONGMEADOW – The topic of a proposed new middle school drew questions and concerns from the Select Board during a joint meeting with the School Committee on March 18.
Previously, the School Committee voted to recommend that two statements of interest (SOI) be sent to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA). Ultimately, the Select Board would likely make its final decision to submit the SOIs at its April 6 meeting.
Superintendent of Schools Marie Doyle said the deadline to submit SOIs to the MSBA is April 10. Last year, eight out of 106 schools were chosen by the MSBA for its program, which could see an approximately 50 percent reimbursement rate.
“When the MSBA comes in the first thing they do is send in engineers, and we have engineers in accompany, that look at every room, every pipe, every single piece of the facility, and they tell you what it would cost to repair and replace, and they also tell you what it would cost to renovate,” she added.
If the SOIs are not submitted, then “we’re not going to have that data unless you choose to fund a study of our own,” Doyle said. A comprehensive is study is needed in order to make an “informed decision,” she added.
The last studies of Glenbrook and Williams middle schools took place in 2008 and were described by Doyle as “very superficial.”
“[It does] not give us the information we need to give you a well thought out decision,” she added.
Selectman Mark Gold said “broader input before going forward” would be beneficial.
“When we have these public decisions, there will be discussions on whether to renovate or replace and we can’t answer those questions without a better study that gives us the information we need,” Doyle said. “And that’s the reason we’re coming forward with an SOI.”
The aging middle school buildings are “not conducive to what we need anymore,” School Committee Vice Chair Michael Clark said.
“It’s a matter of being able to effectively implement new curriculum,” he added. “It’s being able to plug in a microwave and computers at the same time. It’s being able that that wheelchair bound student doesn’t have to go outside to go to the first floor.”
Selectman Alex Grant asked Clark about the response from community members regarding a new middle school.
“They’re not even saying we need a bigger school,” Clark explained. “What they’re saying is essentially, ‘Why do we have two middle schools?’ And that’s truly the comment that I get.”
Select Board Chair Richard Foster said there are two other major projects that the town could approve in the foreseeable future – a new Department of Public Works (DPW) facility and Adult Center.
“There are a lot of needs and the question that is going to be coming up is how do we fund them?” he added.
School Committee member John Fitzgerald said, “I don’t know whether it would cost $20 or $30 million, but a big chunk would come from the [MSBA].”
Clark said the project’s cost would depend on the scenario.
“If it’s a consolidated school, then it’s obviously be a new building and have its own cost,” he added.
Foster said the?Adult Center or DPW projects would likely not receive any reimbursements and would be “100 percent” funded by the town.
“It is a very important thing to keep in mind but we know that a school’s going to be $20 to $40 million,” he added.
Foster said the town “doesn’t really get any relief” until fiscal year 2023 (FY23) in regards to the town’s long-term debt.
“You’re talking about major improvements and it kind of stops the game dead in its tracks waiting for a full commitment from everybody to move in that proper direction,” Foster said.
Fitzgerald retorted, “Richard, if you people do not approve of this then the process can’t go forward and you’re actually being a bottle neck on this. You’re not letting the people of Longmeadow have a say about their town.
“You guys keep kicking around the DPW and the senior center and I’ve been here since 1976 and I’ve been hearing about senior center and I’ve been hearing about the DPW and nothing’s been done and that’s why I’m a little skeptical of your concern here,” he continued.
Fitzgerald said it is the School Committee’s responsibility to make sure the district’s schools are adequate for students and that steps are taken to investigate building a new middle school.
Foster responded to Fitzgerald by stating, “It's the whole community’s responsibility.”
“Let the SOI go forward,” Fitzgerald said to Foster. “That seems to me to be the definition of responsible behavior in this particular case in this particular time.”