On May 4 we will contemplate funding decisions across town departments. Each vote will affect the long-term vibrancy and health of our town. As one of the stewards of the largest budget in the town, the school leadership team and I take the responsibility very seriously and work alongside members of the School Committee, Capital Planning and Investment Committee, Select Board, and Finance Committee to ensure the funding of daily operations and physical upkeep of our schools.
Since the 2018 Town Meeting where the citizens of Harvard took the first of two votes to fund the building of a new elementary school, construction has begun in partnership with the Massachusetts School Building Authority and under the guidance of a School Building Committee with members from the schools, town, boards, and citizens. While this exciting project continues, our capital submissions turned to the needs of the Bromfield School. In the past five years, we have used capital funds to redesign the entryway, replace Cronin lighting, renovate the science labs, pave the parking lots, and more. This coming year we have submitted requests to continue the improvements in the Cronin Auditorium, upgrade interior lighting, replace the gym bleachers, upgrade the kitchen equipment and flooring, repair the roof, and provide air conditioning to areas of the school. (For details on the funding sources for each of these, please see the entry for Article 22 in the year’s Warrant in Plain English)
Specifically, in the Cronin Auditorium we plan to replace the carpet and curtains, rebuild the sound and lighting booth, and add air conditioning. This multipurpose space is the largest assembly space in the town and is in continual use throughout the year. Another area of continual use is the gym and cafeteria/kitchen. The gym bleachers have provided family and community seating for spectators for the past 45 years, but no longer meet current safety standards. The kitchen refrigerator and freezer are over 30 years old and are now failing. The flooring in the kitchen has degraded and no longer complies with safety regulations. These upgrades, as well as roof repairs and adding air conditioning to some of the roof air-handler units, will improve the long-term condition of our middle/high school while providing a well-maintained learning space.
We have also looked beyond the coming year to identify improvements for the following four years. Longer-term focus areas include rebuilding the middle school ramp, replacing damaged flooring, replacing air handlers with units that also provide air conditioning, adding a card access security system, renovating the locker rooms, replacing locker sections, and more. These improvements to Bromfield, combined with the new elementary school, will provide up-to-date facilities for top-quality education of our students from pre-K through grade 12.
Linda Dwight is superintendent of Harvard Public Schools.
Editor’s note: The School Committee has approved paying for upgrades to the Bromfield kitchen and repairs to the Bromfield roof with money from the Devens fund.
