If Vicksburg Square at Devens is redeveloped to include up to 400 housing units, Harvard public schools could see a sharp increase in student population. Last week the selectmen and School Committee talked about how the town might plan for such an increase. Beginning this fall, Harvard is under contract to educate K–12 students living at Devens.
Board of Selectmen Chairman Leo Blair acknowledged that it would be difficult to project the exact number of students they could anticipate from the proposed Vicksburg Square redevelopment, but he asked the committee members to consider some possible solutions on how the town would accommodate a large increase in the student population. He said, “You artfully negotiated the contract [to educate Devens children] and it is a valuable source of funds, but what is Act 2?”
Thomas Jefferson, schools superintendent, said that the Harvard school system is more responsive to the external environment because of its unique size and would be more sensitive to growth. The committee’s long-range plans include keeping class sizes small and adequately maintaining the level of programs. If the number of students exceeded this “comfort” level in the future, he said, “construction of a new secondary school would be considered down the road.”
School Committee members agreed that the town would need to build a new school at some point because regionalizing the school district would not be an effective solution. Stu Sklar, chairman, said that everyone understands how much it means to Devens to be a part of the Harvard school system, but added, “Regionalization has headaches of its own and it can be the 800-pound gorilla in the room.”
Sklar said that the location of the elementary school and Bromfield on a centralized campus is the “secret to our success,” but that expansion of the buildings would be difficult because of limited space. He cautioned the selectmen not to wait too long before they set aside a parcel of land as a potential building site for a new school. He added, “Long-range plans are hard for people to get their arms around, but in 10 years, when we need the land, it might not be there.”
Blair said that his understanding was that MassDevelopment planned to be a part of Devens for at least another decade. He added, “They want to keep the contract with Harvard as long as the schools stay as good as they are.”
Blair continued that they would have difficulty gathering support from residents if they made the decision to build a new secondary school miles away on Devens. “Everyone I’ve spoken to is against the idea,” he said. He went on to ask the committee if they would consider using the opt-out notice of two years to end the contract if “our schools became huge and the residents wouldn’t embrace a bigger system.”
School board member Willie Wickman said they could use an opt-out notice in the contract but the town would still be responsible for educating all of the students currently enrolled until they graduated. She suggested they wait until the disposition of Devens is decided because it would be difficult for people to support a new secondary school until they know what the boundaries of Devens will be. She added, “Everyone loves the central campus but we will need a new building eventually and we have to decide how we get land put aside.”
