School Upgrades Up For Vote At Mansfield Special Town Meeting

MANSFIELD, MA — A special town meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, asking residents to pay for school building upgrades and water main work along Routes 106 and 140. The articles are among 18 being voted on at the the special town meeting.

Article 8 asks voters to approve $800,000 for new doors and windows at Mansfield High School. State funding is expected to cover half the cost, but will be reimbursed later.

The project was originally approved for $1.3 million at the annual town meeting in May 2017, but more money was required to complete the project. This new appropriation would raise the total cost to $2.1 million.

As part of Article 6, residents are asked to spend $320,000 on district-wide school security upgrades. Costs include $100,000 for door security, $70,000 for security cameras, $100,000 for a new public announcement system for the high school and $50,000 to implement a district-wide visitor system.

School and town officials believe the lack of school security needs to be addressed immediately.

“We have to secure the building better,” select board Chairman Michael Trowbridge told the Sun Chronicle.

Other projects proposed include about $1.1 million for water main work along Route 106 and the South Main Street bridge over I-495. The town is also looking for about $1 million to replace water mains from Route 140 to North Main Street.

A full list of special town meeting articles is below:

Photo by Dan Libon