School Building Committee Presents Stoneham Middle School Plans to Finance Board

The Stoneham School Building Committee went before the Finance and Advisory Board to present "The Middle School/Central School Building Project."

The Committee ran through a number of topics related to the proposal, including history, site options and plans, educational and special programs, things to be determined, funding and savings, project benefits and the next steps in the project.

History

• 2002: Previous study shelved with no action.
• Oct. 2008: Application to for new study to MSBA.
• Sept. 2009: State initiates planning process.
• May 2010: Building Committee formed.
• Oct. 2010: State agrees to fund feasibility study and approves project manger (Joslin Lesser) and Designer (Tappé Associates).
• Sept. 2011: State approves preferred schematic design.

Site Options

The School Building Committee offered nine potential sites for the project, labeling the “best option” to be a grade 5-8 building at the current Central Elementary School. Other options included renovating the current , use for grades 6-8, build a 6-8 (or 7-8) addition to , convert old Central Elementary School to 6-8 school, or build on Pomeworth Park.

All options, excluding the grade 5-8 middle/central school complex, had problems with over expenditure, no “swing space” (space for children to go to school during construction), capacity issues, Franklin Street parking restrictions, and in the case of Pomeworth, a deed restriction.

Current Site Plan

An approved site plan provides some details to the design of the new middle school and according to Superintendent Les Olson, are “locked in," such as:

• There is no space for an auditorium, team locker room or weight room (the state no longer funds such expenditures for middle schools).
• Planned enrollment for the new school will be 775 students.
• The new school will be roughly 80,000 square feet.
• A state reimbursement of between 54-56 percent will be issued.
• 190 parking spaces and a one-way flow of traffic.
• Three floors high with the fifth grade segregated on top.
• Two boilers in same bottom floor room for efficiency.

“The lack of an auditorium is the only thing I consider a real loss in this project,” Olson said.

Educational/Special Programs

Also detailed were the impact of educational and special programs to be implemented at the new middle school and throughout town, including 5-8 grade art, music, wellness (health and physical education) and media technology classes.

Elementary educational programs for grades K-4 include art, music, physical education once a week, and media technology classes twice a week. It was noted that each elementary school will retain a separate art, music and technology lab.

Still Up In The Air

Class times and overall scheduling are still up in the air, along with a series of other concerns still to be determined. These areas are:

• Program/grade locations.
• Classroom finishes and equipment.
• How construction will be handled and the loss of facilities while construction/school are underway at the same time.
• Impact on curriculum and other school special events.

Funding and Other Savings

The project has an estimated cost of $40 million, with a 54-56 percent state reimbursement. This leaves $18 million in estimated local costs. The tax impact has yet to be determined. Also of note: The current school bonds expire between 2021-23.

Other savings mentioned in tandem with this project were the sale of the East School, North School, and possibly, Central Street parcels. There would also be a consolidation of school operations under the current plan, including a reduction from six to five schools, a reduction of 35,000 square feet of school land and more efficient HVAC systems.

Finance and Advisory Board vice chairperson Dan Strange said, “Rather than up front, selling the parcels, maybe we could wait since Stoneham is so land poor right now … Maybe we could get more out of them at a later time.”

Project Benefits

The School Building Committee also highlighted the benefits of this project, including:

• Provide 21^st Century facility for students with state paying over half of project cost.
• Enhances Middle School curriculum with student and teacher common planning time, which, according to Committee chairperson Jeanne Craigie, “we have been lacking for years.”
• Enhances elementary school program with balanced class sizes and restoration of specials.
• Reclaims excess capacity from elemetary schools.
• Reduces facility and other costs.
• Reduces traffic in Central Street area.
• No expected impact on staffing

Olson added to this by saying, “As much as this is a building project, it is an educational one as well … This project will give more time for team teaching and for academics teachers to plan their schedules together which we have had to abandon.”

Next Steps

Tackled last were the upcoming steps fro the project if everything stays on task, including:

• Jan. 2012: State approves funding (max dollar amount for project and reimbursement).
• Feb. 2012: Town Meeting approval.
• April 3, 2012: Debt exclusion election (town's portion of funding).
• Winter 2012/13: Construction begins.
• Spring 2013: Discussions on elementary districts and PK-8 staffing.
• Fall 2013: Elementary districts set by school committee (dropping from 4 to 3).
• 2013-2014: Curriculum planning completed.
• Spring 2014: Final staffing and student assignments.
• August 2014: Substantial completion and occupancy.

Finance and Advisory Board Reactions

The Finance and Advisory Board were pleased with the School Building Committee's 18 months of work on the ongoing project.

"With where our bond rates are, this seems very advantageous financially to do this now,” Strange said of the project.

Board member George Georgountzos added, “if it doesn't pass [Town Meeting], you have what you have now, and [the schools] need a change like this.”