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Date: 8/17/2021
HOLYOKE – Acting Holyoke Mayor Terrence Murphy and Superintendent/Receiver of Schools Anthony Soto called on people to apply to be part of the newly created School Building Committee during a recent conference.
The conference took place on Aug. 9 at the William Peck Middle School. Soto, who spoke first, referenced the failed override vote which took place in November of 2019 and failed to approve funds to build two new middle schools in the city. Soto said following the failed vote, the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) had put them “back in the pipeline” for the building of a single new middle school.
He said it was important for Holyoke to be considered again as the students “deserve a new middle school” and the city hadn’t built a new school since the ‘80s. He noted that to accommodate the needs of students, several years ago the city had “tried to take a bunch of elementary buildings and turn them into middle schools.” However, he said, “That hasn’t worked.”
Soto then went on to acknowledge the poor design of several buildings in the city, including the William Peck Middle School, which he said was unable to host summer programming due to the inability of the district to add air conditioning to the school. Additionally, he said the design presented “safety concerns.”
Soto said the district had conducted a survey and found “one criticism from those opposed” had been a lack of diversity in the previous School Building Committee that had been selected.
Murphy said he was excited to have another opportunity to work with the MSBA once again, and emphasized the importance of having the committee reflect the diversity that existed within the city of Holyoke. He said, “One of my goals is to make sure that committee represents the diverse opinions of the city of Holyoke, the diverse populations of the city of Holyoke, and that we work together to find the best, most effective educational facility within our economic means.”
Murphy said the committee would be made up of “10 to 12 active, full-time members.” Those applying to be a part of the committee, he said, should expect a “10 to 12 hour commitment a month for several years.” Letters of interest, which should be sent to Murphy via email at murphyt@holyoke.org, are due by Aug. 29.
Letters of interest should outline why the interested individual is applying to be part of the committee, their area of expertise, any past or present connection they may have to Holyoke Public Schools, their address and any other relevant information.
He said he was hoping to announce members of the committee “two weeks after that,” and “get the committee started in mid to late September,” adding that they had a mid-October deadline to get the committee up and running.
He went on to say in addition to listening to the committee during the remainder of his time in office, he would also seek input from the seven mayoral candidates. “I want to make sure to provide input from the mayoral candidates. The mayor needs to be actively involved. I encouraged whoever’s elected to make this a priority,” he said.
Murphy also encouraged those who voted in opposition to the original plan to build two new middle schools to apply to be a part of the committee. “The committee needs to hear from people who were opposed to it,” he said. This, he said, would help solve problems early on in the process.
“We’ve got to find those objections early, if there are any,” he stated. Murphy emphasized that he’d already spoken with the city’s bonding council and had been presented with “solid evidence we can afford a new school without a tax override.” The total anticipated cost of the project, he said, was expected to be about $65 million.
“We wouldn’t be bonding $65 million. We expect the state to come up with about $35 [million] of that, [and] expect the city to pay [about] $30 million in bond,” he said.
Murphy stated that the School Committee would also be expected to put forth about a $500,000 commitment to show their support of the project for it to move forward. Should the project move forward, Murphy said he expects construction to be completed in either the fall of 2025 or spring of 2026. He said he was hoping for the fall of 2025 so students completing their summer vacation could transition into the new school immediately.
He said ultimately by building a new middle school, the city would ensure “every child has an opportunity to get an education.” Murphy added, “That’s the goal.”