Arlington Middle School Expansion Requires Tax Increase

ARLINGTON, MA—If Arlington is to solve its middle school enrollment issues, it is going to be expensive.

Town Manager Adam Chapdelaine told Patch that town officials are choosing between expanding the Ottoson Middle School, or renovating the Gibbs building into a new middle school. Chapdelaine said that both expansion of the Ottoson school or the renovation of the Gibbs building would require asking taxpayers for a debt exclusion, which would cause a tax increase.

"It's crucial-slash-critical that we make some decisions that we can avoid unnecessary modular classroom cost that a delay in a decision could result in," Chapdelaine told Patch."The forecasts that we've been looking at show continued growth over the next decade, and than a plateauing and maybe even a dip in enrollment. It is appearing to be more of a long term matter than a short term."

Chapdelaine said that the town will look to collect estimates from the Cambridge-based firm HMFH Architects, and may seek to bid the project if estimates fall outside of bidding thresholds. The estimation process is set to take shape at Tuesday Night's School Enrollment Task Force meeting.

Recent school department projections estimate that the renovation of the Gibbs Building would cost between $15 and $23 million. According to a report by Wicked Local Arlington, Superintendent Kathy Bodie said that the estimates only account for the 69,000 square feet inside the building, and are not a full estimate.

According to the Electronic Municipal Market Access (EMMA), Standard and Poor's gave the Town of Arlington a AAA credit rating. Chapdelaine added that to his understanding, more incremental costs would be incurred at the Gibbs school than would be incurred by the expansion of the Ottoson school.

Patch attempted to contact Bodie, but she was not immediately available for comment. Check back with Patch for updates.