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School Building Committee Sets Meeting
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Agenda I. Call to order II. Reading and Approval of Records a. Minutes of 27 July 2011 III. Project Status Overview IV. Project Scope – 620 vs. 310 student school/s solutions V. School building options: Greylock, Sullivan and /or Conte a. Building Committee vote on size of project and choice of school building/s VI. Schedule – MSBA Feasibility Study Extension Timeline a. Building Committee vote on approval of schedule to complete Feasibility Study and Schematic Design Phase VII. Adjournment |
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The School Building Committee will meet Thursday, Aug. 11, at 6 p.m. in the lower level conference room at Conte Middle School.
School officials are expecting to continue the discussion on the school building project's direction taken up at the last meeting.
Officials are debating the wisdom of moving forward with a two-school solution for the educational needs of 620 pupils in Grades kindergarten through 7. While the Massachusetts School Building Authority has agreed on the number of students and the continuation of the K-7 alignment, it has not specifically endorsed a two-school solution.
Sullivan School parents have also forcefully rejected the idea of closing Sullivan in favor of a more cost-effective Conte School renovation. The general consensus has also rejected building one large school but there seems to be agreement on either renovating or building a new Greylock School.
School officials are now debating whether to proceed with two schools, which would require a Proposition 2 1/2 debt exclusion vote and an inevitably controversial decision on Sullivan or Conte. The other option would be to put forward one school, which would likely not need a debt exclusion vote but would only solve the educational needs of half the students.
The MSBA's approval in either instance is not assured.
School and city officials are looking to the public for more input and residents are encouraged to attend next Thursday's meeting. The project status from the last meeting is below.