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Date: 1/26/2017
LONGMEADOW – The School Committee, the Select Board, and the Finance Committee hosted a joint meeting on Jan. 23 to discuss a pair of statement of interests (SOI) for the town’s middle schools, which the committee hopes to submit to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) this year.
Superintendent of Schools M. Martin O’Shea said the district is at a crossroads in regards to its aging two middle schools – Williams Middle School and Glenbrook Middle School.
“What has been kind of apparent for me since I came to the district is that this is not about regular custodial care,” he added. “This is not about regular maintenance care. The DPW facilities crew – they do a great job caring for the buildings. There has been some significant investments made in the middle schools in recent years and those should not be overlooked. And yet, I think as we look at the needs of our middle schools and consider the recommendation that we heard from JCJ Architects in 2008 and 2015 that this is not even about typical capital expenditure.”
He said he believes doing nothing in regards to the middle schools would be a mistake.
“We have two aging facilities that need attention, neither one of which has been significantly updated or upgraded since they were built,” O’Shea said.
Glenbrook was constructed in 1967, while Williams was built in 1959, he noted.
O’Shea said the MSBA would likely examine both SOIs “holistically” if the Select Board approves the submissions. One SOI is for Glenbrook, while the other is for Williams. A feasibility study would be commissioned by the MSBA, which would examine both buildings. After that is completed, the ultimate decision of whether to renovate or replace one or both buildings or build a single unified middle school would be determined.
Select Board member Mark Gold stated he believes the town should place a nonbinding question at a future Town Meeting to determine whether there is political support for a single unified middle school in Longmeadow.
“We want to make sure that there’s a project that has the sufficient numbers of the town to pass at a referendum vote,” he added. “It seems to me that the first order of business is to define the right project politically and say, ‘We’ve got everything going for us.’”
O’Shea responded to Gold by stating he believes identifying the level of community support for a single middle school would be a potentially worthy endeavor.
School Committee Vice Chair Russell Dupere said the single middle school model has been received positively from residents during open forums that the committee has hosted about the middle school issue. However, he said there could be a “silent majority” of residents in the community who might disapprove of the idea and believes gaining more insight would be beneficial.
O’Shea also outlined the potential rough estimate costs of any potential project. A renovation to Williams would cost $49.7 million, while replacing the school would cost $45 million. A renovation at Glenbrook might be approximately $57.1 million, while replacing that building could cost roughly $48 million. A single combined middle school could cost $86.5 million.
He added the feasibility study, which would take place if the SOIs are approved by the Select Board and followed by the MSBA, would look to see what the most educationally appropriate and cost effective solutions would be.
O’Shea also presented a seven year “best case scenario” for construction of a new middle school or middle schools, noting that the MSBA would review applications from April to December. If approved by the MSBA, a $500,000 to $1 million feasibility study would be created from January 2018 to October 2018. From October 2018 to September 2019 an owner’s project manager and designer would begin work and contracts would be signed. From the fall of 2019 to 2021 an option for the building, the scope of the project, and budget would be approved. Lastly, construction could begin in the fall of 2021 with an opening in the fall of 2024 at the latest.
Approving bonding for the project and the feasibility study would need to be determined by Town Meeting votes, he explained.
Gold said he was concerned with the historical actions of the School Committee when the high school was approved.
He stated the MSBA originally recommended a renovation, but believed the committee at the time pushed its own agenda to construct a new high school instead.
School Committee Chair Jessica Hutchins said she appreciated Gold’s historical perspective, noting that she and the rest of her committee plan to continue open dialogue with the Select Board and would make sure to address any of the board’s questions.
The board did not take a vote on the SOIs at the meeting and would likely vote on this issue at a future meeting.