School options draw almost 100 comments; workshops next week

The School Building Committee has compiled comments from dozens of residents who turned in a feedback sheet on three possible campus configurations at the March 24 Town Meeting and posted them here in advance of workshops next week. Those sessions on Tuesday, April 10 at 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. in the Brooks gym will consider both the school and community center projects.

At Town Meeting, residents also saw drawings depicting the latest community center proposals. Many commenters referenced the six school options (R for repair only, L1, L2, L3, C and FPC or full program concept) in their campus comments.

One-third of respondents preferred option #1 (keeping the L-shaped school), and concern about cost was the most common theme in their comments. Comments by the other two-thirds who preferred campus plan 2 focused on educational quality, maintaining or adding playing fields, and sustainabilty. Several also asked for separate votes on the community center, with the school going first.

A basic repair and renovation project with no educational improvements is slated to cost $49 million. At the other end of the spectrum, an almost entirely new school concentrated on the north side of the ballfield would cost $95–$115 million. A community center on the Hartwell side of campus is estimated at $13–$16 million.

There will be a multiboard meeting on Monday, April 30 at 6 p.m. in the Hartwell multipurpose room with an update on the Campus Projects Briefing Document and planning for the June 9 Special Town Meeting where residents will vote on the projects. Immediately afterwards at 7:30 p.m., the Finance and Capital Planning Committees will host a meeting in the same location to discuss project costs, touching on questions such as what those figures include and the current market conditions affecting building costs.

Residents are always welcome to send their thoughts to the SBC via its website contact page.