The current condition of our elementary school is alarming. The roof leaks into the library, the hallways, and even the cafeteria. The health concerns in the K-wing continue, despite the air-quality tests every four months. Breaching the K-wing mitigation system could result in the need for modular classrooms sooner rather than later, at exorbitant cost. According to the Blackstone Block Architects investigative assessment report, they were unable to do any further testing or investigation of the walls of the K-wing. The heat problem in the classrooms is a waste of energy and is uncomfortable. A new building would be oriented for passive solar and would have better insulation. Conserving energy isn’t just environmentally responsible; with ever-increasing energy costs, it’s also fiscally responsible.
The phasing plans for the renovation are disruptive, and they add unnecessary costs—costs that would go to modulars and services instead of directly into new construction. Our students need no disruptions in their schooling. While the gym is under renovation, children would not have access for indoor recess, gym class, or for middle school sports.
As anyone who has done a home renovation knows, unanticipated problems always arise, despite any amount of due diligence. Unanticipated maintenance during and after a renovation, such as those that happened at the 1955–1988 building juncture, would not exist in new construction. We have an amazing opportunity before us that we may not have again. The Massachusetts School Building Authority monies would best be used on a new building that will not need later Band-Aids that our taxes would pay for without assistance. Interest rates will not be better a few years from now, a new feasibility study would have to be done, and construction costs would increase.
Members of the School Building Committee have visited several newly constructed schools in our area. They have seen what can be done to bring our education capabilities into the 21st century. Instruction methods and techniques have changed since the 1950s and 1980s.
The MSBA financial contribution is so significant that we need to use it to its fullest extent.
I urge the School Building Committee, in the strongest possible terms, to ask the town of Harvard to build a new school building next spring.
Jennifer Finch
Codman Hill Road
