The School Committee is seeking voter approval for four warrant articles at Annual Town Meeting for improvements at the Bromfield School. The capital requests range from $20,000 to $175,000, and one requires the approval of voters at the ballot box.
The biggest ticket item, Article 27, is $175,000 for the ongoing upgrades to the Bromfield science labs. Principal Scott Hoffman said the plan is to upgrade two biology lab/classrooms this summer, just as a chemistry room and a physics room were overhauled last year. That will leave another physics room and two “prep” rooms (used for preparation and storage) to be renovated next year, completing the project.
The cost of upgrading the two science labs will be split between Harvard taxpayers and the state. One lab will be paid for with money received from MassDevelopment for the education of Devens children, the other by a capital exclusion, a bond whose principal and interest payments will increase taxes for the life of the loan. The capital exclusion requires a two-thirds vote of Town Meeting on April 1 and a majority vote at Town Election on April 4.
A second article, Article 26, seeks $84,000 for equipment that everyone hopes will never need to be used: interior locks on all classroom doors as a safety measure in case of a violent attack within the school.
Another measure, Article 28, calls for $20,000 to renovate the four middle school bathrooms, which Hoffman described as “old and worn.” He was not sure when they were last updated, but it might have been as much as 30 years ago. The high school bathrooms received a facelift last summer.
The final article, Article 29, asks for $30,000 for an architect to propose a solution for the structural problems of the deteriorating outside ramp on the middle school wing. The ramp serves as a required emergency exit for rooms at that end of the school. Hoffman said the ramp is currently safe but is “showing its age” and will eventually become unsafe if nothing is done.
Articles 26, 28, and 29 will be paid for with money drawn from the Capital Stabilization and Investment Fund.
