Longmeadow School Department, Select Board to discuss middle schools

Dec. 21, 2016 | Chris Goudreau
cgoudreau@thereminder.com

LONGMEADOW – The School Committee will meet with the Select Board on Jan. 23 to review information about two statements of interests (SOI) to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) for Longmeadow’s middle schools.

Select Board Chair Marie Angelides told Reminder Publications the board would likely then take a vote on whether to submit the pair of SOIs to the MSBA sometime in February or March.

“I think it’s important that we discuss all the projects on the board going the next 10 years and the Select Board has started that process,” she explained. “We had the [Department of Public Works], the middle schools, as well as the Adult Center come in front of us during the months of September and October and then we’re bringing them back together in January. I think it’s a process that we’re in the middle of and we’re working with the School Committee to work this out successfully. We have to carefully plan for the next 10 years.”

Superintendent of Schools M. Martin O’Shea said the School Committee has directed district officials to create the SOIs. The School Committee has yet to vote on whether it would submit the SOIs to the MSBA. If it votes in favor of the proposal, the Select Board would also need to approve it.

The Select Board voted down a similar pair of SOIs for the two middle schools in April 2015.

O’Shea explained when a district submits an SOI; it is letting the MSBA know that there are deficiencies in a building.

“You are really expressing your interest with working with the MSBA to identify the best solution,” he noted. “Districts don’t necessarily go into a statement of interest having identified a solution. A successful SOI would allow a district to complete a feasibility study and that feasibility study would help the district understand what the best option is.”

Only about less than a dozen districts are chosen for the MSBA’s core building program on annual basis. More than a hundred districts typically submit an SOI each year. The MSBA typically offers a 50 percent or more reimbursement for building projects with its core program.

O’Shea said it would take about a year until the district would find out whether it would be invited into its building program.

When asked if she would be voting in favor of submitting the SOIs to the MSBA, Angelides replied, “It seems to be a very important step for us to move forward on, but again, we haven’t had the full presentation … I think it’s important for us to have the full discussion before I decide, but right now the SOI is something we should be seriously considering at this time.”

Selectman Mark Gold said he believes the current physical condition of the middle schools merits the attention of town leaders, but his vote would be dependent on what information the SOIs would contain.

“I am familiar with the details of the buildings’ shortcomings as described in architectural studies and reports, but have not participated in discussions on the optimum resolution of those shortcomings,” he explained. “As [a] Select Board member I will be asked to approve the submission of an SOI to the MSBA. To my understanding, that document has not yet been written, yet it appears to have the support of a number of residents who also do not know what is contained in that document; what assistance it asks for, or what information it conveys.”

Gold said he believes to ask the MSBA to identify the best way to address the shortcomings of Longmeadow’s middle schools is “inappropriate.”

Selectman Thomas Lachiusa said he is concerned that “the parents aren’t really sure what they want.”

He added, “And I kind of want to know if they’ll all be on the same page with this when it comes to building one school that’s not in the neighborhood that their school is currently. That happened in Hampden and Wilbraham and so I don’t want to see what happened out there to play out in Longmeadow … The impression from the School Committee is that this statement of interest will take a long time and what I’m hearing from folks is that it doesn’t take that long and it could take place much sooner and the town may not be ready to take action on it.”

Lachiusa said he would need to hear a plan about a new middle school that excites him in order for him to vote in favor of the SOIs. He would also like to hear about potential budgetary cost savings associated with a combined middle school.

“Having a program that would really excite everyone involved could win some support and I’m not hearing that yet,” he added.

Selectmen Richard Foster and William Low did not respond to requests for comment as of press time.

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