Press Releases
83 SCHOOL DISTRICTS MOVING FORWARD IN NEW GRANT PROCESS
The MSBA announced today that the MSBA Board will move 83 schools into the next phase in the process for potential funding. During this phase, the local district and the MSBA will work in collaboration to find the right-sized, most fiscally responsible and educationally appropriate solution to a facility’s problems. These schools will eventually become the first part of the MSBA’s $2.5 billion five year capital pipeline. Moving these projects forward represents years of work to determine which schools meet the criteria of having the worst physical condition or overcrowding contributing to poor educational environments in the Commonwealth. The MSBA will continue to plan and work with the districts on the remaining Statements of Interest (SOIs) that are not moved into the feasibility study stage of the process.
The MSBA’s goal was to focus on the Statement of Interest each district identified as its priority so that the neediest projects statewide would be given first priority for funding, pursuant to the MSBA’s statute. The MSBA received a total of 423 SOIs from 162 districts. The projects moving forward in the new grant process represent the neediest of the schools that met the MSBA’s criteria.
To view a list of the 83 projects moving forward in the new grant process, please click here
To view a list of all categorized 162 district prioritized projects, please click here
To view the presentation at the MSBA’s Board of Director’s Meeting, please click here
School officials will ask selectmen on Monday to put a $655,000 debt-exclusion override question on the April 12 town election ballot.
The money is needed to pay for a feasibility study for a new middle school, and to hire a project manager. School Superintendent John Retchless said that 55 percent of the cost would be reimbursed by the state.
The town’s share will end up at $295,000, and the plan is to pay off the debt in one year, Retchless said.
“This is critical,” he said. “If the feasibility study does not happen, then the project is dead.”
The debt-exclusion property tax override, which would need approval at the ballot box and at town meeting on May 5, would increase the tax bill for the average single-family home by $46.50, Retchless said.
The cost of the study is based on estimates given to the town by the Massachusetts School Building Authority on Monday night.
On Wednesday, the school building committee agreed to ask residents to approve the study.
If it is approved this spring, Retchless said the town should have a design and a cost estimate for the construction project by December.
Then, the town would look to sign a construction agreement with the state, and turn to residents to approve a financing plan for the project.
“Things are moving extremely quickly,” Retchless said. “It is very exciting.”
Andrew Lightman may be reached at alightman@ledger.com.