Next Step For New Stoneham High School Comes May 6

A Release to the Stoneham Community From members of the School Building Committee:

Your Stoneham School Building Committee is excited to share that Stoneham will, with your help, take the next step toward providing a first class learning space for our high school students at the May 6, 2019 Annual Town Meeting, when residents will vote on Article #6, a vote to appropriate funds for a feasibility study as the next step in the Massachusetts School Building Authority’s (MSBA) process. As you may know, Stoneham High School was approved to move forward in the MSBA process last fall and the Stoneham School Building Committee, a group of twenty individuals, was recruited and commissioned to begin its work.

On Monday night, May 6, voters will be asked to fund the feasibility study required by MSBA. You may also remember that several years ago, a feasibility study was commissioned for the high school and you may wonder why it needs to be done again. The MSBA requires that a feasibility study be completed based on specific information which MSBA requires, including Phase 1 environmental, traffic and site studies. These studies are in addition to the initial feasibility study which led to the MSBA’s agreement to fund a potential new/renovated school; and, because this study is a requirement, the MSBA reimburses the town approximately 50% of the cost.

Why does Stoneham need a new high school? In short, the Stoneham School Committee, staff, students, parents and professionals at Stoneham High School have identified a number of challenges that the current building presents every day, such as:

- The New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) has placed Stoneham High School on Warning for Accreditation due to the building facility.

- The existing main building is over fifty years old with a small lab addition in 1981, and requires increasing capital for the school department to run and maintain the facilities and systems properly;

- A growing Special Education Department program in which more of Stoneham’s students with individual needs attend school in our town rather than being sent to out of town schools and where appropriate space for these students is limited;

- A growing youth population as new residential developments are on the horizon;

- A fire alarm system that functions, but is dated, and a lack of fire proofing or sprinkler systems;

- Arts/Humanities areas that are sorely lacking in space and structure, inhibiting students’ abilities to perform at their best whether on stage or off.

- Areas of the building that are somewhat isolated and unused and exterior doors with antiquated control systems; and,

- An aged mechanical system that struggles to modulate physical conditions in the building, resulting in overheated or poorly ventilated classrooms and offices and in low efficiency and higher operational costs.

Why does Stoneham need a new high school? The same groups have shared their goals for the Stoneham High School of the future, such as:

- Creating appropriate vocational and transitional learning spaces for the Reaching Independence in a Structured Environment (RISE) program, in which students learn and practice daily living and job skills as they transition from teens to adults;

- Providing fully-accessible and ADA compliant entrances and movement areas that allow all students access to all programs within and outside of the building;

- Ensuring acoustically-strong sound environments for all students and in particular those with hearing deficits, who need appropriate sound and vibration levels to fully understand what is being said;

- Grouping classrooms to allow for intra-curricular studies and work groups on projects;

- Housing the town’s Pre-School program in a single building, where high school students can participate in child development classes and internship/volunteer opportunities; and,

- Developing maker spaces and Arts/Humanities spaces designed for STEM and STEAM programs to integrate efforts, to house the successful programs already happening and to grow and expand these programs and build upon these successes and those of the Middle School programs.

The challenges and the goals above are part of a more in-depth report, which you can read here today.

We hope that you will help us take the next step toward giving all Stoneham students a high school building that not only provides the technology, healthy atmosphere and opportunity to which every student is entitled, but also to provide space where all members of the community can learn and grow.

If you have any questions or would like more information about the warrant article or about the proposed project, please reach out to Superintendent John Macero at 781-279-3802 or at
jmacero@stonehamschools.org.

We look forward to seeing you at Stoneham’s Annual Town Meeting on Monday, May 6, 2019 beginning at 7 p.m. Babysitting services are offered, and special areas have been designated for parents attending with children as well. Your vote could be the one that gives your children or grandchildren a building that will enrich them and all Stoneham’s children for generations to come.

Thank you for your consideration,
Marie Christie, School Building Committee Co-Chair,
David Bois, School Building Committee Co-Chair, and,
Members of the Committee