REVISED OPINION Providing Education, Supporting the Greater Good

REVISED OPINION piece, submitted by Medfield resident, Jeff Hyman.

Providing Education, Supporting the Greater Good

When asked, “Where you from?” I enjoy saying “Medfield,” because what follows without fail is, “Oh, that’s a nice town.”

Medfield is a nice town, known for its bucolic lands, the best sledding hill for miles and good schools. As a resident of nearly 30 years, it’s important that Medfield continue to preserve long-term sustainability on several fronts, including, road and sidewalk safety, low tax rates for an aging population, cultural vibrancy, open space, and vital water resources.

The challenge of competing priorities is evident with the grade school subject, and the stakes are high with a Dale vs. Elm street scenario. The community must consider the largely differing benefits, costs, and risks to ensure the best experience for students, while maintaining environmental stewardship and minimizing cost to taxpayers.

With careful planning and design, the current Dale Street location is a viable option for students, teachers, and the community at large.

Adaptive Reuse strategies at Dale Street may be the best overall path, blending the best of renovated existing structures with newly added space and amenities to meet educational and social demands.

Benefits may include:

• Creation of vibrant architecturally significant and bicycle friendly student experiences near town center, with modern classrooms, and state-of-the-art technology.
• Far less environmental impact by using valuable portions of existing structures, which have expended carbon impacts over many decades. A new building, even with LEED aspects, has a greater total carbon impact – especially when considering excavation, earth removal, extraction manufacture, transport, building and disposal of waste materials.
• Additional opportunities to meet education and recreation needs on one downtown campus by building a multi-use, year-round complex instead of separate buildings on different sites. This would save taxpayers money by maintaining our current building inventory, and not require costly perpetual maintenance for yet another facility.

Additional construction on Elm Street eliminates a large parcel of open space – and a documented buffer zone that’s protects town-critical wells. Open space supports biodiversity, improves air quality, cools the planet, supports pollinators, and provides habitat for wildlife.

Open space and water resources are finite to be preserved for the generations to come; once gone, they’re gone for good.

Approximately 55% of Medfield residents do not have children in the schools; families with their youngest child in second grade will not directly benefit from a new grade school building based on project timing; and there are some residents that simply won’t support any costly building project. Taking all of this into account, along with the requirement of a 2/3rd majority for a school building project, I believe the Dale Street location is a viable option, and one that voters would support.

Ralph Waldo Emerson stated long ago: “We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” I believe a more creative approach and re imagining Dale Street School to serve education and community helps ensure quality of life for Medfield residents of all ages.