WHITMAN – Residents will have more opportunities to hear about the deficiencies of the current Whitman Middle School building – and tour the facility to see them first-hand – while learning details of the new school project in the weeks ahead of the Monday, Oct. 30 special Town Meeting on the proposed building project.
The Building Committee firmed up those dates and reviewed the message being put forth at its Tuesday, Sept. 19 meeting.
Christopher Scriven attended the meeting virtually.
“We’re working hard to get back on track with our outreach plan,” said WMS Principal Brandon Frost. “The biggest change that we need to make right now, is the [Select Board] meet on Sept. 26, and we don’t want to be on the same night as them. … There’s no sense to compete.”
The fifth community forum is planned on Thursday, Sept. 28 [see schedule].
It will require “yes” votes at both the Oct. 30 special Town Meeting and a Saturday, Nov. 4 ballot question.
“I think it’s good for us not to compete with the Select Board,” said Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak, noting that members of both committees might want to attend each others’ meetings.
The forum on Sept. 28 was to feature a slide presentation to outline the cost of the project including the town’s contribution of $89,684,133 as well as the anticipated Mass. School Building Authority grant of $45,605,539; debt options; an overview of the project history and schedule; MSBA acceptance rate and reports and investigations conducted on the existing building.
“The existing building was constructed prior to the first state building code, back in 1975,” Frost said. The first accessibility code was published in 1967.
Vice Chair Kathleen Ottina said the existing school is assessed at $9.8 million. The accessibility code gets treated at 30 percent — $2.9 million – to fix the school. Fire protection codes get triggered at 33 percent – or $3.2 million.
The roof repair and HVAC replacement, which are the heart of the problem, are about $13 million.
“It more than triggers the need to meet the codes for the ADA and fire protection,” she said. “The base repair is throwing good money after bad. It’s not the solution.
“If a building is made before a code is established and then you have to go into it [to make major repairs or replacement] you have to bring it up to the 2023 codes?” asked Assistant Superintendent George Ferro.
“Any new work needs to be compliant with the most recent code,” said Architect Troy Randall. “There are many stipulations related to that, and there are triggers that we will go through … on what that means from an accessibility standpoint.”
Building Inspector Robert Curran explained there is a dollar amount that triggers that requirement, but if the entrance is touched, they have to make all entrances handicapped-accessible, as well.
“Then you get into the fire code if you do major renovations,” he said. “We didn’t even talk about seismic requirements.”
The new middle school would have to be built to meet seismic requirements, but any renovation to the existing school would mean it has to be brought up to that code, too.
“There are a lot of variables,” Randall said. “There are unknowns related to that.”
The cost of portable classrooms will also be discussed.
A sampling of educational shortcomings of the building are also included in the presentation as well as photos for residents who have not had a chance to tour the school.
“We sometimes get caught up in the Whitman and Hanson,” Ferro said of the educational aspect of the need for a new building. “You didn’t see a Hanson Middle School picture in there because what you saw is what other schools in the Commonwealth who have been through MSBA projects have been through.”
When eighth-graders are deciding between attending vocational or public high school and whether Whitman is providing what other students in the Commonwealth have, becomes clear “as a parent, a voter, a person” whether students in W-H have the skills to be successful in their life choices.
Building Committee member Don Esson expressed doubts that is was a good “apples to apples” comparison, arguing it would be better to compare WMS to communities with similar economic profiles to Whitman.
“I think it would be better if we could find closer like schools,” he said. “I think it sells itself that way. I think some people might get a bad impression if we tried to paint this area as a Natick or Beverly.”
Ferro said it was a good point.
School Committee member Beth Stafford said the architects were making comparisons with projects they have done but agreed that their Abington project might be a better comparison.
“I think these discussions are helpful,” Ottina said, noting they are discussions being conducted in the community.
Benefits of a new middle school will also be covered in the community forums, including academic, arts and athletic opportunities as well as community features of the site.
Traffic flow and parking will also be addressed.