School Building Committee Looking to Improve Conditions at Hingham Middle School

The Hingham School Building Committee confirmed that three major school construction projects have been competed but now looks to improve the

The renovation of and Elementary Schools and the construction of the new East Elementary School have been completed with the exception of the leveling and micro re-surfacing of Eastgate Lane that is scheduled for this summer.

 The School Building Committee  now eagerly looks forward to its final challenge, which is a project to address the significant overcrowding and facility challenges that continue at the Middle School.   It is still undecided whether Hingham will construct a new school, renovate the existing school, or replace parts of the current building.

 According to the committee, this is the one piece of unfinished business that remains from the original charge at the time that the School Facilities Master Plan, adopted in 2006,  which was completed and approved by the townspeople of Hingham.  That is the resolution of the issues of space and condition at Hingham Middle School, the first step of which – funding of a Feasibility Study.  This will be considered at tonight’s Annual Town Meeting. 

 The School Building Committee, along with the School Department, the School Committee, and Town officials have said that they will continue to work collaboratively with the Massachusetts School Building Authority to move this project forward in a timely and cost efficient manner.

 Earlier this week, the School Building Committee released a statement that said they were pleased to announce that the East School construction project was completed on time and under budget  by more than $780,000.    According to the committee, the final audit of the East School project by the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) has been received and approved by the School Committee.   The Town has been reimbursed more than $9.5 million already for the state’s share of the eligible construction costs; and the final closeout of the project is in process. 

 According to Hingham’s  School Building Committee,  East  Elementary School now incorporates quality design and cost-efficient construction, attention to green design features, and up-to-date technology and operating systems.  According to the committee, it also provides the  educational needs of Hingham students – both currently and for the future.

Along with the management of the East School construction project, the School Building Committee also had oversight of the $7 million Town-funded renovations to Foster and Plymouth River Schools.  This work, done in three phases over the last few years, was completed last fall and includes energy savings and accessibility improvements, technology upgrades, general refurbishing of classrooms and corridors.  There are specialized classrooms such as a new art room at both schools, a music room at Foster Elementary School, and a technology lab at Plymouth River School.   The two schools also now have small group instructional and therapy spaces for special education services. 

According to a release sent out by the School Building Committee , the goals of this project were to breathe 12-15 years of new life into Hingham’s two oldest elementary schools and to enhance parity of the learning environment across all four of Hingham’s elementary schools. The project also was completed as planned and budgeted.