Tours Will Spotlight the Conditions of NR Schools

With a special Town Meeting and special election on the horizon in North Reading, the schools are hosting tours this weekend to show why new schools are necessary.

and will be open to the public on Saturday. The middle school will be open from 10 to 11 a.m. and 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. and the highs school will be open from 11 a.m. to noon and 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.

In the morning sessions, Wayne Hardacker, supervisor of buildings and grounds, will give the tours and in the afternoon, each of the principals will give the tour of his/her school.

"The tours will be of the entire buildings including classrooms, locker rooms, bathrooms, auditorium, science labs, modulars, library, technology labs, etc.," said Superintendent Kathy Willis.

Willis said the discussion during the tours will focus on the condition of the buildings, but any questions that come up with be answered.

If one of the tour leaders is not able to answer a question, a Secondary School Building Committee member will contact the person to answer the question.

Willis said she hopes North Reading residents will attend and understand why the schools need new buildings.

“We hope residents gain a better understanding of the current conditions of each building by showing the spaces and discussing how these current conditions prohibit us from advancing with respect to providing a 21st century education for students,” she said.

The $107.8 million project would replace the existing high school and middle school into one large campus. The schools will have separate space, but they will share core facilities, such as cafeteria and gym.

A special Town Meeting is scheduled for March 19 and a special election is slated for March 24.

Here is a list of Patch articles about the school building project.

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