School Building Committee Talks New Middle School

Big changes could be on the horizon for Stoneham students in the fifth through eighth grade. The Stoneham School Building Committee continued discussions concerning the creation of a new 5-8 grade middle school that would be constructed roughly 50 feet back and partially on the grounds of the current Stoneham Middle School.

The Building Committee has recently met with MSBA (Massachusetts School Building Authority) officials and discussed the project. This Friday, the Board will bring schematics and a full proposal to the MSBA that includes information on the overall education program at the newly proposed school, budgetary information, site development strategy, cost estimates, and other building and construction fundamentals.

“This is a preliminary phase before the nuts and bolts of the project,” mentioned Building Committee Chair, Jeanne Cragie, summing up the recent actions of the Board.

“We think everything is pretty much in line for this project to move forward,” added Board Member, David Bois.

Described in a presentation by Charles Hay of Tappe’ Associates Architecture Firm, the new three-floor middle school would have 50 plus classrooms, a bigger gym, a media room as large as the current middle school gym, safer routes to school, a new outdoor basketball court, and room for a plaza that would help to slow traffic, provide a better overall presence, and give students a place to congregate before and after school or get picked up.

Improvements aside, the main need for this new school centers on the growth and population pressures that face several elementary schools throughout town. Simply put, there are too many students and too little classroom space. The schematics call for the first two floors to house grades 6-8, with the top floor segregated for the fifth grade.

This ambitious project has been years in the making. Here’s a quick timeline of all the important events surrounding the new middle school:

• October 2008 – Statement of interest filed with MSBA on part of School Building Committee.

• September 2009 – MSBA invites project into capital pipeline.

• October 28, 2010 – Feasibility study agreement signed.

• June 8, 2011 – Project reclassified from repair to feasibility study.

The Board will bring their feasibility study they have prepared in front of the MSBA Friday and will then set up a meeting with the MSBA sometime in September to talk about project details and take the MSBA’s comments/critques on the project.

One area of contest that the Board is already battling is that they seek to get a 7,600 square foot gym, where 6,000 square feet is recommended from the MSBA. The upcoming September meeting will hopefully clear up this issue.

For future meetings, the Board has announced a potential schedule for moving this project forward.

• September 28, 2011 – MSBA preferred schematic authorization.

• January 2012 - MSBA scope and budget authorization.

• February 2012 - Town Meeting authorization.

• April 2012 – Debt exclusion vote.

If all goes to plan, it appears that as soon as April of next year, construction plans could materialize for this ambitious project.

Contrasting this sentiment, the Board expressed some doubt that the MSBA might not approve the project at all. Although their hopes are high for this current restructuring of the middle school, the Board created a back-up plan in place in case the MSBA halts the Board’s agenda for a new 5-8 middle school. The back-up plan would surround expanding and renovating the Central Elementary School, which rests to the east and slightly behind the current middle school, and  combine it with the current middle school.

Again, the prime intent is to alleviate the population growth pressures and influx of more and more students and less and less classroom space. The Board mentioned that this contingency plan was in place, but gave no details. The Board’s overall sights are optimistically set on moving ahead with their primary objective.

The Building Committee Board also expressed concern that they had no formal vote or approval from School Committee. Although no formal vote is needed to go forward with the project, the Board hopes to get in contact with the School Committee within the next few weeks for their thoughts as this project enters a crucial stage.