STONEHAM SCHOOL BUILDING COMMITTEE HOSTS FORUM #2 September 23

Following up on the recent Stoneham High School Feasibility Study Forum #2, the Stoneham School Building Committee (SSBC) met on Monday evening, September 28, to discuss options for the potential high school complex. The group reviewed ten potential options and identified five to be further studied and included in the Preliminary Design Program (PDP) to be submitted in early October to the Massachusetts School Building Authority for its review.
The PDP is the result of input from stakeholders including high school staff and students, as well as community members and the SSBC during a number of sessions, including the Stoneham High School Feasibility Study Forum #2, hosted by Stoneham School Building Committee, on September 23rd virtually.
During the second Forum, participants were introduced to the SSBC, to Project Manager Symmes, Maini and McKee and designers Perkins and Will. The meeting included reports on the results of the Visioning Program which involved about sixty individuals – students, teachers, SSBC members and specialists over eight sessions totaling 12 hours.
Participants of the second forum were also shown pictures of the existing conditions at the High School, hearing that a major renovation upgrade would be needed in order to meet current building and accessibility codes. It was offered that the building has served the community well, but is very tired and has essentially reached the end of its useful life
An Educational Programming update was presented which detailed current and envisioned use of the high school including number of classrooms and learning areas to provide Perkins and Will information necessary to design areas where educational programming goals could be met in a new or renovated building.
The Design Options Summary provided a number of potential school building solutions including a renovation of the existing building only option, three renovation/addition options, along with five entirely new construction options. Each of the options was explained and detailed using diagrams of the site planning and phasing in addition to providing pros and cons for each option.
During Monday night’s SSBC meeting, members again reviewed the options and identified their top choices for renovation, renovation and addition, and new construction, envisioning the opportunities each option offered. The Committee was clear that these are preliminary options, which will be refined over the coming year. The SSBC stressed that community input will be critical throughout all phases of the project and urged the entire community to stay informed and to share their comments.
Stoneham Community TV broadcasts the Forums and Stoneham School Building Committee meetings, which can be viewed on their website. The Stoneham School Building Committee Community Forum #2 will be shown on Stoneham TV's Education Channel (Comcast Channel 8, RCN Channel 13 and Verizon Channel 35) each day for the next 2 weeks at the following times: 9:00 AM, 1:00 PM and 8:00 PM. The only exceptions are during the upcoming School Committee Meeting (Thurs., Oct. 8, 7 PM) and the Stoneham School Building Committee Meeting (Tues., Oct. 13, 7 PM). Forum #2 can be viewed using this link - https://www.stonehamtv.org/sin... . This and other meetings can be viewed either on television, computer or mobile device, using the OnDemand feature on the SC TV website.
A list of upcoming meetings, agenda and minutes, timelines and information can be found at the SSBC webpage - https://www.stoneham-ma.gov/62... . Residents can also submit emails with questions and comments to SSBC@stoneham-ma.gov.
The next meeting of the SSBC will be held on Tuesday, October 13, 2020 at 7 P.M. Details for connecting to the meeting will be posted to the SSBC webpage link listed above.