District hopes to implement regional middle school by 2016
Date: 1/15/2015
WILBRAHAM – Members of the
Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School Committee met with the
Board of Selectmen at its Jan. 5 meeting to discuss two ongoing issues being addressed by the school district, including the possibility of implementing
one regional middle school by the fall of 2016.
Superintendent of Schools M. Martin O’Shea told
Reminder Publications after the Jan. 5 meeting in order for one regional middle school to be implemented both Hampden and Wilbraham residents would have to vote in favor of changing the regional agreement between both communities, likely during the Annual Town Meeting or the Special Town Meeting in the fall.
O’Shea said if residents in both communities approve the regional agreement change there might be the early implementation of one regional middle school in fall of 2016.
“What [the
Middle School Task Force] is looking at is investigating [whether one regional middle school] is educationally feasible and cost-effective,” he added.
O’Shea said the Middle School Task Force (MSTF) is currently examining short-term strategic decisions as well as others that are more focused in the long term. The MSTF would likely share some of its initial ideas at its next meeting on Jan. 29.
The
New England School Development Council (NESDC) has projections for the district’s enrollment until 2024, O’Shea said
According to a report by NESDC released in January 2013, roughly 600 students are projected to be enrolled in the district during the 2020-2021 school year.
The NESDEC released projection data for the district in January 2013, showing roughly 600 students as the potential enrollment for the 2020-2021 school year. There are 744 students currently enrolled this school year.
“Every year you go out, you’re off plus or minus one percent,” he added. “So if you’re 10 years out, their projections could be [anywhere from] 10 percent above to 10 percent below [the current enrollment].”
School Committee Chair Marc Ducey said another issue being looked at by the district is to add article to the Annual Town Meeting regarding the
Massachusetts School Building Authority’s (MSBA)
Accelerated Repair Program eligibility of 53.73 reimbursement for the estimated
$1.6 million Soule Road Elementary School windows and doors repair project.
Previously, the Soule Road repair project was approved by residents at the Aug. 18 Special Town Meeting alongside a $2.3 million
Wilbraham Middle School (WMS) roof repair project. Both required a debt override on Nov. 4,
neither of which passed.
The School Committee is not moving forward with WMS roof project because of the ongoing work of the MSTF related to the district middle schools’ decline in enrollment, Ducey noted.
O’Shea said the MSBA’s Board of Directors are meeting in March and the schematics and designs need to be completed by sometime before the end of February in order for the district to re-enter the Accelerated Repair Program.
“We had initiated the feasibility and schematic design study but it was not completed,” he added. “We put a stop on it once the vote failed in November.”
O’Shea said there would be more reliable cost projections for the project by the time of the 2015 Annual Town Meeting.
“We had originally projected it at around $1.6 million,” he added. “It will be, most likely, when you add in some contingencies and things it’ll be above that.”
The Soule Road repair project could end up costing a little less than $1 million, O’Shea noted.
