The School Committee officially learned at its Feb. 28 meeting that the Capital Planning and Investment Committee (CPIC) had approved all the schools’ capital requests, which will be presented at the Annual Town Meeting.
Superintendent Thomas Jefferson had presented CPIC with six capital requests, ranging from a new playground at the Hildreth Elementary School to converting from oil heat to gas at the Bromfield School. In several cases, the town may be reimbursed for the costs of the projects, in which case the monies will be returned to the capital fund, explained Finance Director Lorraine Leonard.
Most of the capital requests stand to benefit the Hildreth Elementary School (HES). One article calls for vinyl composition tile to replace the worn carpeting—currently held together with duct tape—in the HES office, at a cost not to exceed $10,000.
HES students can hope for more fun per dollar from another capital request—$65,000 for a new playground. This amount represents a third of the total cost, with the other two-thirds coming from community fundraising, the Shaw Trust, and the Devens contract. Jefferson reported that the playground committee is planning a “community-build” effort for the proposed playground, as was done for the existing one more than 20 years ago.
Two other articles focus on energy improvements at HES. One request seeks $100,000 for mechanical upgrades to the energy systems, which were identified through an energy audit commissioned by the Harvard Energy Advisory Committee (HEAC). However, incentive awards from National Grid are likely to cover more than half that total cost. HEAC estimates that energy savings will pay back the town’s remaining cost in 4.3 years. A second energy-related request asks the town for $75,000 to replace windows and boilers at HES with more energy-efficient ones. This project can expect about 40 percent of its cost to be reimbursed through the state’s “Green Schools” program. Jefferson noted that these energy requests involve “trying to bring dueling bureaucracies together” for the reimbursements, but the effort can lead to substantial savings for the town.
Energy savings underlie a capital request for the Bromfield School as well. The school recently acquired a convertible dual boiler than can operate on either oil or gas. This year’s capital request is for $30,000 to extend a natural gas line to Bromfield, so that the school can take advantage of that lower-cost fuel. Jefferson noted that the school will keep the dual system because the building also serves as an emergency shelter and might need to revert to oil heat if the natural gas supply were interrupted.
The final capital request for the schools is to bring the Middle School walkway up to code, replace the worn planks, and rework the railing structure, for a cost not to exceed $20,000.
School Committee Chairman Keith Cheveralls, who sits on the CPIC by virtue of his chairmanship, commended Jefferson, school facilities manager Mark Force, and the HES playground committee for their strong, well-organized presentations to the capital committee.
