WHITMAN – The Whitman Middle School Building Committee, on Tuesday, Nov. 7 reviewed the results of the Oct. 30 special Town Meeting and the Saturday special Town Election on the project. The official election results were 1,005 in favor and 837 opposed with one blank.
Member Cristopher Scriven, who is also Vice Chair of the School Committee, attended the meeting remotely via phone.
The unofficial results were reported to the Massachusetts School Building Authority on Monday, Nov. 6.
“They were very happy to hear the support for the project,” Mike Carroll of Colliers, the owner project manager, said.
Next steps for the project include MSBA budget approval and funding agreement this month, then the work moves on to design development to be completed for submission to the MSBA in April 2024 with a 60 percent construction document submitted in August. A 90 percent construction document submitted next October and a complete construction document submitted in December 2024.
A construction bid will be awarded to a general contractor in February 2025, with construction expected to begin in March 2025. Certificate of occupancy should be received in spring 2027.
The present WMS building would be demolished beginning in the summer of 2027. Fields will be worked on in the summer of 2028.
The MSBA close-out on the project is anticipated to be in December 2028.
The next Building Committee meeting is planned for Dec. 19. A subcommittee will be selected to amend the contracts with AI3 and Colliers, both of which have expired, Small said, nominating Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak, Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter and Building Committee Vice Chair Kathleen Ottina and member Don Essen for the subcommittee. The committee approved the nominations.
Ottina said she has extensive experience on other school building project contract negotiations.
“It’s up to our subcommittee to come to an agreement within [the range of dollars included] with AI3 and Colliers and go from there,” he said.
Assistant Superintendent of Schools George Ferro publicly thanked architectural firm AI3 and management firm Colliers as well as the Building Committee.
“It has been great,” he said. “Hopefully, we move forward and I wanted to take a moment and at least go on the record to publicly thank them because all the students, in the end, and the public will greatly benefit.”
During the public comment period, resident Elizabeth Dagnall, president of the Whitman Educatiom Alliance, thanked and congratulated the committee on the win during the Saturday, Nov. 4 special election.
“Because of this committee, on the first day of school in 2027, approximately 579 students and 70 staff will walk into a beautiful, new, safe, modern, light-filled, mold-free, properly ventilated, climate-controlled, attractive learning environment,” she said, calculating that more than 7,000 students will benefit from the building in its first 50 years alone.
“We know this wasn’t an easy win,” she said about the rumors and disinformation spread on social media. “You saved this building project from derailment and sabotage multiple times.”
Finance Committee member Rosemary Connolly, thanked the parents who came together and supported the project.
“It was an amazing parent movement, as well, that helped push this through,” she said. “We knew we needed this building. There was no real option, no ethical option.”
But she said, on the school tours the smell of mold in the air was hard to ignore, asking when the last air quality test was done and what was the result.
Small said that was not the purview of the Building Committee, but rather the district’s Facilities Subcommittee of the School Committee.
Connolly said releasing that information and plans on what to do with the students if it worsens during construction would be helpful.