About 60 residents gathered in Volunteers Hall Tuesday evening to discuss the proposed new elementary school building project. They listened intently to a half-hour presentation from members of the School Building Committee and then plunged into almost two hours of vigorous but civil questioning and debate.
In some ways, the big news at this event was the attendance. School officials have been holding public forums on this project since February 2016, and most of those meetings drew no more than a dozen attendees. The presence of so many engaged and knowledgeable citizens suggests the town is gearing up for the decisive vote on the project at the May 5 Annual Town Meeting.
Hildreth Elementary School Principal Josh Myler (far right) listens as School Committee member SusanMary Redinger addresses a crowd of 60 residents who came out Tuesday night to learn about the proposed elementary school project. (Photos by Lisa Aciukewicz)
Schools Superintendent Linda Dwight, who also chairs the School Building Committee, led off the meeting with a review of the project, beginning with its approval for partial reimbursement by the Massachusetts School Building Authority in January 2016, followed by Town Meeting’s support for a feasibility study that April. Dwight said the 15-member School Building Committee concluded fairly quickly that the kindergarten wing had to be demolished and replaced, but most members still expected to renovate the 1988 main building and decided on a new building only after cost estimates for renovations began to approach the costs of all-new construction.
When the question-and-answer period began, Billy Salter of Elm Street led off, asking several questions and then focusing on the difference between the estimated cost of renovations (about $28.6 million) and the town’s share for new construction (about $35.4 million). “It seems to me, reluctant as I am to say this,” Salter said, “that this is about the incremental cost, which is about $7 million.”
Tim Schmoyer asks Josh Myler a question.
Tim Schmoyer of Stow Road asked if the committee had thought about regionalizing with another school district. Dwight said that option had been studied a few years ago under the previous superintendent, when combining with Littleton or Boxborough seemed to be a possibility. But the conclusion at that time, Dwight said, was that Harvard valued its own school system, and the building committee did not reopen that issue.
An architectural failure
Steve Hierman of Pinnacle Road raised an issue on which many residents have expressed concern. He described the existing 1988 building as an architectural failure and asked what steps the committee was taking to ensure that a new school would be more durable.
Elementary school Principal Josh Myler responded that no one is happy with the lifespan of the current building. He said committee member and town resident Ron Ostberg, who is an architect, has been the point person on working with the project architects to see that the new building “envelope” (walls and roof) would be robust, while the interior could be remodeled as needed to meet changing educational needs.
Steve Hierman asks how we can ensure that the new school is more durable than the current one.
Bob O’Shea of Old Littleton Road advocated for creating a separate, new kindergarten building. That way, O’Shea argued, the necessary renovations to the 1988 building could be done a little at a time, to avoid the costly requirement of bringing the entire 1988 building up to code with fire sprinklers and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Wade Holtzman of Bolton Road agreed, saying, “You should just have done the K-wing.”
Committee member and Selectwoman Alice von Loesecke said a new kindergarten would require all independent electrical, heating, and plumbing systems, and it would not solve the problems of the existing building, such as a leaking roof and outdated heating system. Von Loesecke added that the 1988 building does not meet current seismic standards, and a new roof designed to stop the leaks would weigh substantially more than the present roof, perhaps more than the building could bear.
Dwight also pointed out that the boiler for the whole elementary school is in the K-wing, and demolishing that wing would immediately necessitate a new heating system for the main building.
Concerned about impact
Don Sugai of Littleton County Road looked at a different issue. While everyone supports good schools for the town’s children, he said, he was concerned about the impact of the estimated 16 percent tax increase on others in the town. “We can’t forget the rest of the people in this town,” he said, and he asked the committee for a survey on the overall effect of the increase. “It would inform us and allow us to make a more thoughtful decision.”
In all, a range of issues and possibilities was discussed. While Dwight, Myler, and committee members von Loesecke, SusanMary Redinger, and Mary Traphagen were able to respond on many of the issues, they admitted that some were outside their scope. On technical financial matters such as bonding issues, Dwight said David Nalchajian and Tim Bragan, the town financial manager and town administrator respectively, were among those who could answer.
Dwight said she expects to schedule a walk-through of Hildreth Elementary sometime this month so residents can see its condition firsthand. More specialized public forums—perhaps focused on building construction or finance—are also possibilities, although none has been scheduled.
