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Date: 12/6/2022
GRANBY – Options and future plans for Granby schools were discussed between the Selectboard, Finance Committee and School Committee during their Nov. 30 joint meeting.
School Committee Chair Jennifer Bartosz said the School Committee initiated this meeting to see where the subcommittee that was formed in response to the two capital improvement projects approved through Town Meeting for the schools in the Spring was at in getting the projects in motion.
Town Meeting members voted to have the town allocate $1.3 million for the purpose of funding the renovation of the Granby Junior-Senior High School gymnasium HVAC and the expansion of the boys and girls locker rooms. An additional part of this request specifically was due to improving the building to also serve properly as the town shelter in case of emergency.
In order to meet the standards needed to be the town shelter, there must be operating showers and proper heating. The last time the town used the school building for an emergency shelter was during the October snowstorm in 2011.
The other request that was approved in the May Town Meeting for the schools was for $1.05 million to renovate the Granby Junior-Senior High School kitchen and cafeteria rooms. The current space lacks the proper airflow and was deemed inoperable for last school year and continues to be in the same position now.
All meals for the school are still being prepared each morning at East Meadow Middle School kitchen and brought over to the high school and served to students. With the renovation of the kitchen, it would not only solve these current problems but also add to the shelter space in having the proper kitchen operations if needed in an emergency.
During the joint meeting, Selectboard Chair Glenn Sexton and Finance Committee member John Libera discussed identifying exactly what the town would be looking for in relation to the school building and felt a feasibility study was needed to properly identify options for the future of Granby schools.
Superintendent Stephen Sullivan said the School Committee had already reached out to surrounding communities about potential regionalization of schools earlier in the year and they did not receive much interest. Sullivan said he recognizes looking into possible regionalization options or renovations to buildings is a town decision, but they started doing their part in gathering information.
“We feel it’s difficult when we sometimes are the only ones talking about it [needs for the school], but I recognize we live in it every day,” Sullivan said. “It’s a pebble of some size in our shoe. Doing nothing creates potential bigger problems down the road.”
The School Committee has been in discussions with the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) about a potential feasibility study on the high school that would identify if renovations or a new school building in general were good options for the district. Sullivan noted during the meeting that nothing with the MSBA would move forward, and no study would be done until the town boards could be aligned in favor of a study.
Sexton noted that a regionalization option did not sound like the answer based on the initial feedback the School Committee received. Libera countered Sexton and said he disagreed with that point.
“I think we need some outside professional group to make approaches on where districts are. I wouldn’t rule out going to see someone for regionalization in school,” Libera said. “Every school is going to be cutting under a tremendous amount of pressure the next few years.”
Bartosz explained to the Finance Committee and the Selectboard that the School Committee had essentially already completed this step with the survey they put out earlier in the year. She noted they spoke to the Collins Center at UMass and they told the committee to reach out to their neighboring districts.
“We followed regionalization gurus,” said Bartosz. “A study won’t find who to regionalize but how the town pays, responsibilities, transportation…we need to know who first. It doesn’t feel responsible to go and do the same thing again when we already talked to the people who guided those conversations.”
Libera felt still an outside party should come in for a study to identify which options are best for the community. He added that those involved should be aware of what is the point in spending where renovation costs are more than what it would cost for a new school building.
Bartosz said she still felt a “big time disconnect” as the committee was aware they are several years from any capital project that completely renovates or brings in a new school building, and also noted the two capital requests approved in May’s Town Meeting had still not been followed through on for the schools.
“We voted at Town Meeting to do these two capital improvements that would provide help for students right now but have not done anything to have these meetings to see what to do,” Bartosz said. “The town of Granby spoke and said they wanted to do these capital improvements. To me, that’s infuriating that we haven’t done a single thing since May.”
Bartosz added while she knows a special subcommittee of Libera and Sexton is supposed to take the final steps before bringing the project out to bid, they had yet to meet still as the project has been sitting up in the air since Town Meeting.
In talking of a broader scope for the future of the school building, Libera still felt it was complicated due to the tight financial situation the town is in. Libera noted during the May Town Meeting that the town was “worried” and had “been spending money we really didn’t have.”
“Looking at the economic context we’re in, part of the framing of the question is, your school district and economic wages are going to be asked for big, big increases coming up. If those circumstances exist, I think it’s impossible for Granby,” Libera said of future school options.
He continued and said having multiple options to approach this was important for the town to identify. Bartosz responded saying nobody was disputing that point, but the fact is the district brought other needs that still had yet to be acted on even with it being important to stay looking ahead at the future.
Sexton noted later in the meeting that he and Libera would be making it a priority to get these two capital improvement projects done before the new year. When still discussing other options for the future, Libera said questions needed to be raised on if it was worth looking into a new high school building.
“The question that really needs to be studied about is should we in fact be trying to get a new high school? I think we’ll find out through a study, but we can say, ‘Oh, of course we want to own our school, of course we want kids in town,’ how are you going to pay for it? ‘Oh, of course people are going to raise taxes and do that. Well, all right, if that’s the way you want to do it, try it, but I don’t think its going to work,” Libera said.
Some members of the School Committee dismissed the idea of eliminating the school or grades within the high school as a whole for regionalization, but Libera felt it had to be mentioned in this discussion due to the finances of the town. Bartosz noted it would still be regionalization for the town if they were sending students to other schools instead of coming together in town.
Sexton suggested that a goal of the joint boards should be getting a response from the town to gauge interest in a new school building before they could all commit further negotiations with the MSBA. Eventually all parties agreed to meet again monthly or bimonthly going forward to address some of these issues and map out options for the community.
Sullivan suggested that the three boards come to their next meeting with a list of what is needed out of a feasibility study for the town and then someone can be tasked to reach out for more information. He added that when meeting with the MSBA in December, he would not be telling them the town is fully supportive of a project right now.
“I want to be honest with them,” Sullivan said. “A feasibility study would be next if the MSBA was interested [Sullivan noted it would be at least $1-2 million for such a study] then they would present options of scope of work whether to rebuild, do renovations.”
Libera also felt the same and said by the following year the town could provide a better answer as they dig deeper into options.