LONGMEADOW – The school district is investigating the sentiment of residents, who might be asked in the future to fund renovations, construction of new middle schools, or a unified middle school that is estimated to cost anywhere from $45 million to more than $100 million.

The town of Longmeadow is also considering two potential building projects, including a new Department of Public Works facility and a new Adult Center. The community is also slated to reach its levy limit in the next four to five years.

Superintendent of Schools M. Martin O’Shea said a 2015 report from JCJ Architecture lists a potential renovation at Glenbrook Middle School for $57.1 million and a renovation at Williams Middle School for $49.7 million. Replacing the schools would cost $48 million for Glenbrook and $45 million for Williams. A combined middle school would cost $86.5 million.

“I would caution anyone that’s looking at the figures to understand that these are conceptual estimates,” he told a small group of parents, community member, as well as town and school officials on Oct. 18 at Williams Middle School. “They give us sort of an order of magnitude. It should be seen as precise figures that would come from a true feasibility study.”

He continued, “I believe this was based on a 900-student middle school,” he added. “You’ll see that potentially a new combined middle school would be less costly than attempting two renovations. I’m not here to say that that is a direction. I’m not here to say that should happen. I’m just here to say that this is the information that we got from the report. It has been something that the Middle School Working Group has had some interest in.”

School Committee Vice Chair Russell Dupere, a member of the Middle School Working Group, noted renovations to both schools would be more costly than building new schools.

School Committee member Michelle Grodsky, who is also a member of the district’s Middle School Working Group, stated at the beginning of the meeting the working group has been in existence for several years. Another member of the group is School Committee member John Fitzgerald.  

The district also hosted a middle school forum on Oct. 19 at Glenbrook Middle School.

She added the purpose of the meeting is to gain input from residents about potential future middle school projects.

O’Shea said Glenbrook was constructed in 1967 and consists of 95,000 square feet, while Williams Middle School was built in 1959 and has 74,000 square feet of space.

Both schools are not in line with current building codes and if major renovations were to take place at either school, the grandfathered status of the buildings would be nullified and the entire building would have to brought up to current building code regulation, he added.

“If you renovated either building you would wind up with the same building,” O’Shea explained. “The same footprint; the same space essentially; [and] it wouldn’t necessarily be suitable for modern programming.”

One resident asked O’Shea how the district would increase its operational budget for added transportation costs if a combined middle school became a reality.

“You’d have some ups and some downs,” O’Shea responded. “You’d have some pluses and minuses. Transportation would probably be an increase, but you would gain efficiencies in staffing in the sense that instead of two administrative staffs … you’d be running one.”

He added he doesn’t plan to “put the cart before the horse” regarding a potential middle school project. Additional studies would need to be pursued before a recommendation would be developed.

The Select Board voted not to support statement of interests (SOI) for both middle schools to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) in April 2015. The MSBA receives SOIs from districts across the Commonwealth for school building projects, but only a handful are approved for reimbursement on an annual basis.  

O’Shea told Reminder Publications prior to the forum the School Committee is interested in understanding the sentiments of the Longmeadow community regarding a middle school project. At this time, the committee has yet to present another SOI to the Select Board, but it is considering that idea.

“The needs of the buildings really exceed what can be addressed through regular maintenance and what even can be addressed through the town’s regular capital budget,” he noted. “So, the buildings are well cared for, but they have systemic needs.”

He said he believes the town has been at a crossroads about what to do about its aging middle schools for more than five years.

“I think the School Committee is doing its due diligence in making sure that the community understands the needs of the facility and making sure that we have, most importantly, safe modern learning environments for children.”