By NEIL ZOLOT
WAKEFIELD – Members of the Town Council, the Town Administrator and the chair of the Permanent Building Committee attended the School Committee meeting to express support for the proposed new High School, Tuesday, January 10.
“The project has the enthusiastic support of the Town Council,” Vice Chair Jonathan Chines said. “The deficiencies of the current high school are clear,” citing inadequate science labs and space for specialized learning.
Referring to the School Committee Mission Statement, which is on the meeting agendas and School Committee Chair Tom Markham dutifully recites at the outset of every meeting, reading, “The vision of the Wakefield Public Schools is to graduate students who are confident, lifelong learners. Our mission is to prepare students for college, career and community by providing rich and challenging curriculum, high quality instruction and educational experiences that meet their individual needs and interests,” Chines called the high school “an example of a building that doesn’t meet the mission.”
He feels a new school will “meet the promise we make to our students.”
“The building we currently have is not providing lifelong learning,” Town Council Chair Mehreen Butt agreed. “This is our opportunity to create future generations of leaders.”
“This is a very exciting project,” Town Administrator Steve Maio chipped in. “ We have no angst having a new school. It’s time.”
The matter will come before a Special Town Meeting January 28 in the Wakefield Memorial High School field house and then, if approved on January 28, be the subject of a ballot question in March. “Despite all the work, it’s not a done deal,” Butt cautioned.
In addition to the educational aspect, finances will play a big part in how people will vote. In April 2022, presupposing a construction start date this spring, the cost was estimated at $219,447,036. A delay in the projected start date to the fall and higher than usual material cost inflation increased it $273,701,204. Permanent Building Committee Chair Joseph Bertrand told the School Committee costs that usually rise 5% rose 15%, in part due to problems with the supply chain due to the pandemic. Aid from the state School Building Authority was expected to be about $65 million.
Renovating the high school was determined not to meet educational needs and the cost difference was low. “If you can build new for the same price as renovation, people look to building new,” School Superintendent Doug Lyons explained.
“When you look at the options, this is the best option and the most cost effective,” Chines feels. “There was no option to do nothing.”
The project total includes contingency funds, including $5 million for construction and $12 million for inflation. “The number you’re looking at is the highest possible number,” Bertrand explained. “If money isn’t spent it won’t be charged to the taxpayers.”
“If we don’t need the contingencies, the burden on the taxpayers will be less,” Maio added. “The Galvin (Middle School) came in under budget.”
He estimates the tax burden on a residence worth $700,000 will be $22 for 2024, $75 for 2025, $415 for 2026, $730 for 2027 and $1,258 for 2028. The lower early numbers will be the result of staggered borrowing. “We’ll break up borrowing to get the best rates we can,” Maio said. “It phases in.”
He’s also hoping rates will go down as the process proceeds and growth in the local taxbase will spread out the cost. “I don’t think it will be much, but every little bit helps,” he said of new growth.
Senior citizens could be helped by the existing Senior Tax Credit and pending legislation that may increase it. “Any senior that qualifies at the state will qualify for this in Wakefield,” Maio said.
In December, the MSBA increased the per square foot cost of the project aid from $360 to $393 to decrease the town’s burden by $5 million, leaving the best estimate of the town’s share at $208,266,447, with the project at $273,250,903. Butt thanked State Senator Jason Lewis and Representative Kate Lipper-Garabedian, who were at a School Committee meeting October 25, for their efforts to reduce the cost to the town. “That will help us,” she said.
After the discussion, the School Committee passed a resolution normally supporting the project. “At the end of the day, we’re all working in the best interests of the town,” Markham said. “This is evidence of this.”
They also passed a resolution to keep the name of a new track, which will be on the site of the current school after the new school is built on the site of the current track, in memory of Shaun F. Beasley, a 1972 WMHS graduate who died in 1974. The track was named after him in 1977. Markham said the vote was “so the community and family know how much the community values the memory of Shaun Beasley. That’s not going to change.”
School Committee member Stephen Ingalls wondered out loud about how to “re-remember” names from the past that have little or no meaning to current students or new residents in the town. “I don’t have a solution,” he admitted while calling for some future discussion of the matter.
Markham agreed it was a topic worthy of consideration.