Burlington School System Rethinks State Funding Requests

BURLINGTON, MA -- After seven straight years of having its proposal to upgrade for the Burlington High School HVAC system rejected by the Massachusetts School Building Authority, it may be time for the school district to switch its tactics for tapping into the pool of state Monday, Superintendent Eric Conti told the school committee earlier this month. The MSBA only moved forward on 12 of the 80 submitted school building projects when it met last month. Funding for the projects come from the state sales tax, and the MSBA saw a dip in revenue last year.

But Conti noted that the state authority bases its decisions largely on enrollment. Burlington High School was built for 2,000 students only has enrollment of about 1,000, prompting Conti to suggest the school system submit a different project.

"My suggestion is likely going to be to switch our priority...to a new elementary school," Conti said. "But that does not mean our high school needs go away." That would likely mean scaling back the high school project to just cover the HVAC system and not include updated classrooms, as initially proposed.

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Patch file photo of Burlington Superintendent Eric Conti.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).