$75,000 of Site Planning Approved for Potential New Middle School

Using funds appropriated to the facilities master plan, the Windham School Board will explore a site plan for a brand new school on London Bridge Road.

The new facility, which would house seventh and eighth grade students, would use the purchased land just before the new high school. It would give the town what Superintendent LaBranche called a "more significant campus situation."

That investigation will take eight to 10 weeks and will cost $75,000. LaBranche said that he doesn't think it's wasted dollars, as the work on the site will do a number of items for the board.

To start, they will survey the whole site to make sure something isn't going to come up mid-construction that will cost a lot of extra money. There will also be a substantial drawing of the building produced, detailed down to its shape and the classrooms inside.

School District Business Administrator Adam Steel also said the work would give the board "peace of mind" that the total cost going on any warrant article would be accurate.

"(It gets you) a good idea of what you're buying for your money," said Steel.

During the public presentation, the board invited representatives from two hired companies to speak to both the plan for a new building and a possible expansion on the current middle school.

Trident Properties has also been tasked with the current kindergarten expansion. LaBranche said that he is confident that Trident owner Gino Baroni knows what the goals are.

"He has a good feel for what our expectations are for what we jointly believe," said LaBranche.

Baroni told the board that they have a ballpark cost in the range of $24 million for a London Bridge Road school. This cost would rival that of the middle school expansion, which would be a two-phased operation.

The first phase for that project, which was carefully mapped for the board, would cost $12 million. The second would be $10 million.

"I don't think there's any wrong choice," said Baroni. "It's just a matter of where you decide you want to go."

Chairman Ed Gallagher said that the current drop-off/pick-up situation at the middle school is "not the most ideal," and questioned whether adding more kids to the same area would increase the problem.

That information wasn't available for the public presentation, and would be the next step should the board tackle the expansion option.

Assistant Superintendent Amanda Lecaroz said that a new school would be the best option to relieve capacity at all of the schools. The high school wouldn't have to take on eighth graders, and all of the other schools would be able to handle rising class totals.

The board did stress that they are prioritizing the biggest issue by approaching the middle school problem first. They will eventually have to go back and address space issues at Golden Brook School.

HL Turner Group, an architectural engineering firm in Concord, explained the design behind a possible expansion to the middle school.

Head artchitect Jay Doherty said that each classroom would have windows in their model, allowing natural daylight. They also wouldn't disrupt the foundation of the original building, and make sure to make the rooms under the multipurpose room designated for mechanical and storage.

According to LaBranche, the result would be a "comprehensive middle school" after the completion of both phases.

Gallagher remained interested in the expansion project, but the board is still ramping up emphasis on the new facility consideration. That school would likely be capable of housing home economics and woodworking classes.

In order for that project to be understood by voters, resident Danyelle Stuckart asked the board for "more communication" about what the current capacity problem is.

"When it came to the high school there was a huge campaign door-to-door when it was first voted down," said Stuckart. "A lot of the public is not aware there's a problem."

The board is looking for a cost by Jan. 17 that they can be confident about. Board member Stephanie Wimmer agreed with the rest of the board that it makes sense to start that site work now.

"Looking forward to what has been the prevailing wisdom in this town is that w'ere going to need a new middle school someday," said Wimmer. "I think we should move forward toward getting some of those numbers."