“Will my kid be in a trailer with no heat?”
“How can you be sure the school population will decline rather than rise?”
“When do we pay off the debt on the 2005 Bromfield expansion?”
Thirty or so elementary school parents and community members raised these and other questions at a March 2 forum on the proposed Hildreth Elementary School building project held in Volunteers Hall. Public input followed a formal presentation coordinated by Superintendent Linda Dwight.
The next update will come at Town Meeting, and there will be others before the “preferred option” is put forward in June, a deadline dictated by the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA), which will reimburse more than 40 percent of the project’s cost. At that point a budget will be set and then the schematic design will be underway and completed by February for a town vote and funding approval in April 2018.
Dwight and others urged the public to keep informed by reading updates online, and to give input by taking a survey, contacting members of the building committee, and attending future forums. The absolute worst scenario, Dwight said, would be if, after two years’ worth of investigation and planning, the project were to be defeated at the 2018 Annual Town Meeting.
The presentation began with a reminder of why the town is committed to a building project at Hildreth Elementary School and where the process is currently. The expiration of a memorandum of understanding in which the Board of Health granted the town 10 years to fix mold problems in the 1950s kindergarten wing of HES necessitated the resolution of that problem, at least. The first step was to apply to MSBA to try to get in the queue for financial assistance. Sue Frederick, principal at HES, reiterated that the fact the school was chosen was a real coup, because it’s very difficult to be selected by MSBA from among many competitors. The next step was to hire an owner’s project manager who would work for the building committee and navigate the town through the process; Stephanie Gilman of NV5 was hired in that role.
Next came the hiring of Arrowstreet Inc., a Boston architectural firm, whose principal Larry Spang and staff member Emily Grandstaff-Rice have been directing the study at the school. Both of them said how much they enjoy having a school as a client. “It’s such meaningful work,” said Grandstaff-Rice. Teachers are the most “resilient” of clients and very creative, added Spang.
Strict criteria; big reimbursement
Working with the MSBA means receiving significant reimbursement, but it also means adhering to strict requirements, criteria, and a timeline. As required by MSBA, the building committee must thoroughly explore each of three options: replace the K-wing with a modest addition and make upgrades to the rest of the building; do an extensive renovation to the building in addition to the replacement; and construct a new building. One of those three options must be chosen by June. The building committee and School Committee, not town vote, will decide which of the three options to move forward, which is why the committee hopes for lots of community input this spring. The Town Meeting vote next year will be an all-or-nothing yes or no.
Grandstaff-Rice said they are in the “feasibility” stage, assessing the current state of the K-wing and the rest of the building. They are not done, but they have determined that the K-wing will probably be torn down. In addition to housing kindergarten classes, some special education classes, and after-school programs, that oldest part of the building holds all of the electrical, plumbing, and heating systems. Grandstaff-Rice said those electrical panels and the furnace need to be replaced and air quality improved. A sprinkler system needs to be installed and accessibility mandates addressed. They are now conducting forensics on the walls of the rest of the building to determine insulation, materials, and so on. It is clear that the leaking roof needs to be replaced, which will entail additional insulation and gutter work to guard against ice dams. Building committee member Ron Ostberg commented later that the 1988 building has “good bones.”
Ensuring equity
Project manager Gilman explained other criteria the MSBA requires before it will reimburse the project. The authority uses a template, designed to reimburse projects in such a way as to ensure equity among schools across the state. According to that template, the MBSA will reimburse only an HES project that is built to accommodate an enrollment of 445 students. This is the current enrollment at the school. Gilman stated that MBSA’s research shows that school enrollment will decline in Harvard, even taking into account students from Devens and a future turnover of houses to younger buyers. The template also calls for a building no larger than 73,000 square feet as the appropriate space to accommodate 445 pupils. To later audience concerns that this enrollment figure may be too low and that school population may rise, Dwight responded that the committee’s hands are tied. “Space for the enrollment of 445 students is what MSBA will pay for,” she said. Gilman commented that it’s “a complicated puzzle that we’re going to solve together.”
MSBA also requires the committee to have an educational plan and vision; it is this plan that will shape the building, not the other way around. To this end, the building committee has a visioning committee working with Gilman, the school, and community. Frederick said that today’s world requires 21st-century learning; students need critical thinking skills and practice in collaboration. The emphasis on group work may dictate the need for flexible spaces within a school. She noted that technology is now integrated into learning and a building needs to accommodate that.
Puzzle pieces
Dwight added some more puzzle pieces for the community to think about. She said the entire district should be considered in the building decision for HES. Right now there is overcrowding at Bromfield; some of the spaces are inadequate for optimum learning. She cited a health class meeting in the basement and a teacher with no permanent classroom. One solution might be to move the sixth grade back to HES. However, this would necessitate additional space that MSBA would not reimburse unless the committee could persuade the authority to raise its enrollment figure. Because the Bromfield House (the administrative building) needs repairs and accessibility accommodations, would it make sense to put the money for that toward adding space for central offices at the new HES? The gymnasium is too small; should the proposal for HES include a gym for school and community use even though none of that cost would be reimbursed? And what about energy efficiency? Dwight acknowledged that tax increases and competition with other proposed projects in town, like an addition to Hildreth House senior center, present challenges to the HES building project.
And the kid in the freezing trailer during construction? Never going to happen, assured Dwight. The safety and learning environment for HES students is top priority. She said of the modular classrooms she has seen, “They’re beautiful. They are nicer than the classrooms.” As for the enrollment cap by MSBA—about which there is nothing the committee can do—School Committee Chairwoman SusanMary Redinger said that after a 2010 peak, school population dropped and is still trending down. Anticipating the debt question, Debbie Ricci, chairwoman of the town’s Capital Planning and Investment Committee, informed the group that the debt on the 2005 Bromfield addition loan will be paid off in 2025. She calculated a four-year overlap in debt on the two school loans.
Allaying student anxiety
The school is doing its part to allay any anxiety on the part of students by getting them excited and involved in the project. The community’s role is to keep informed and give input to the committee. Said Gilman, “We want it to be a project that the community can support.”
Grandstaff-Rice will be available to parents and community members who wish to drop in to speak with her Monday, March 13 from 5 to 6 p.m. in Upper Town Hall and Tuesday, March 14 from 9 to noon in the Hildreth Elementary School faculty room. Residents may access the survey at www.surveymonkey.com/r/BDVC5S8.
