PowerPoint Yields To Mom's Point In Killam Discussion

Baseline energy usage, water and sewage figures, and a discussion of the FY19 Facilities budget. Yes, like this story so far, last night's opening PowerPoint at the library was hardly riveting.

It was Day 3 of the Reading Board of Selectmen's budget review and despite the better efforts of Director of Facilities Joe Huggins the opening presentation was dragging. With the goal, as Board chairman John Arena said, "greater transparency," Huggins outlined the work being done to maintain Reading's eight schools and nine municipal buildings. His news was good, especially in the area of energy saving measures, but some of the charts in the PowerPoint were near impossible to read or filled with numbers few in Reading could ever hope to understand. But it had to be done, and the selectmen appreciated his presentation.

The atmosphere changed when the subject turned to the Killam Elementary School. And it wasn't a chart or any fancy numbers that woke the room up. It was a concerned, maybe even a little frustrated, Reading mom.

It started with a discussion by School Superintendent John Doherty and Town Manager Bob LeLacheur regarding the issues with Killam, built in 1969 and Reading's oldest school. They include lead in the water, handicap accessibility, aging doors and windows, and no fire suppression system. Reading, through the School Committee, is considering having the Building Committee conduct a feasibility study looking at Killam and potentially all the town's elementary schools. In addition, there's the possibility of asking the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) for help, either in renovating or replacing Killam. The MSBA help is possible because it gave Killam a three rating out of four. A rating of one or two is good, but three and four means a school has issues.

That's when Killam parent Jen Kane approached the microphone. The mother of two Killam students, Kane moved to Reading because of its schools. What she got was a school where her kids have to drink bottled water and the state gives it a poor ranking.

"I just wanted everyone to understand what a ranking of a three really meant in terms of the state," said Kane. "All the other schools in our town were one and two and I looked at the MSBA report and I know that state wide, of the 1,500 schools, the top 84 percent are always ranked a one or two and the bottom 16 percent are ranked a three or a four. Being a three is still in my mind quite dire. Being the bottom 16 percent in the entire state of Massachusetts is not where I feel the Killam School should be.

"I'm very pro override and I don't want anything to mess up the override vote. But I want a conversation to start about Killam. That's what I want."

She wasn't alone. Others in the room also spoke out about Killam concerns. The problem is that state help, if it happens at all, will take years. A town feasibility study could at least be started in early 2018 and give Reading a better idea of what's needed. The Building Committee has $150,000 in its budget and the study could take place regardless of what happens with any potential override. But how is a town potentially facing its second override vote in less than two years able to take on the cost of building a new elementary school?

As LeLacheur reminded everyone, Killam isn't alone in needing help. The two turf fields at the high school need to be replaced along with the stadium track, field house floor, and Birch Meadow Phase 1 and 2. All for a cost of approximately $8.7 million.

The last of the four budget sessions is back at the library Wednesday. There will be more charts, more big numbers. And if needed, maybe a Reading mom will be on hand to remind everyone what's really important.

Photo by Bob Holmes