Legislators Secure $6.8 Million for the New SHS Building Project

BOSTON—State Senator Jason Lewis and State Representative Michael Day are pleased to announce that they successfully secured a significant amount of supplemental state funding for school building projects as part of the recently enacted Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) state budget. As a result, Stoneham will receive an estimated additional state grant of $6.8 million to support the new Stoneham High School building project.

Senator Lewis and Representative Day supported a three-part plan that was ultimately included in the final budget: authorizing the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) to make supplemental grants to school building projects that were adversely impacted by rapidly rising costs during the COVID-19 pandemic; increasing the annual spending cap for the MSBA to authorize it to spend additional money; and appropriating an additional $100 million to the MSBA for FY24. These additional funds come from the new “Fair Share” revenue that the state will receive from the 4% surtax on annual income above $1 million approved by Massachusetts voters last November.

“Our students deserve access to a high-quality public education, including excellent facilities for teaching and learning,” said State Senator Jason Lewis, who serves as the Senate Chair of the Education Committee. “I know how much of a struggle it has been for the Stoneham community to deal with the unprecedented cost escalation caused by the pandemic that has faced the new high school building project, and I’m proud that Rep. Day and I were able to persuade our colleagues that the state should step up and provide additional financial resources to assist the impacted projects, including Stoneham high school.”

“I am ecstatic we were able to convince our colleagues to increase state funding for this project,” said State Representative Michael Day. “Our community has repeatedly affirmed that we will do whatever it takes to deliver the best educational opportunities possible to our children, and this significant investment from the state and the MSBA will ensure that this project will deliver those opportunities in full. I truly appreciate the support and advocacy from our School Building Committee and all of our residents who are making this project, so many years in the making, a reality.”

“We are extremely grateful to Senator Lewis and Representative Day for their continued focus and advocacy for supplemental funds to offset the deeply adverse effects our high school building project has encountered over the last three years,” said Marie Christie, who serves as the Co-Chair of the Stoneham High School Building Committee. “Our Committee, with the complete support of our community, has dedicated the last four years to building the highest-quality, state of the art high school complex amid what has proven to be the most difficult construction period in recent history. We are lucky to have both of these legislators in our community’s corner.”

Senator Lewis and Representative Day advocated for many years for the MSBA to accept Stoneham High School into its competitive grant program. In late 2018, they were finally successful and since then the community has worked in partnership with the MSBA to move the project through each stage of its rigorous process.

In November 2021, Stoneham voters overwhelmingly approved the project and authorized the appropriation of taxpayer funding. Due to global and unprecedented challenges impacting the construction industry that included supply chain problems, workforce shortages, and rampant cost escalation in raw materials, the total construction cost of the new High School project increased significantly.

The Stoneham School Building Committee, led by Stoneham residents David Bois and Marie Christie, has done everything possible to minimize and mitigate these unprecedented cost pressures on the project and Stoneham voters once again supported the project by authorizing additional local funding. Along with that commitment, Senator Lewis and Representative Day previously secured an additional $1.3 million in state funding for the project as part of an economic development bill that the Legislature passed in late 2022.

The estimated $6.8 million in supplemental state funding that Stoneham will now be receiving will be made available from the MSBA and the Town will determine how best to use the funds. The new Stoneham High School is expected to open its doors to students in September 2024.