HIGH
SCHOOL BUILDING COMMITTEE UPDATE
November
7, 2007
This update describes the work of the High School Building
Committee (HSBC) since Annual Town Meeting in April 2007. Since April 2007, the HSBC met three times of
a total 50 meetings beginning in January 2004.
The work of the HSBC, in prior years, is summarized in the Report of the
HSBC published in the January 2005 Special Town Meeting Warrant. It and the more extensive Preliminary Design
Report are both available on the School Committee web site (www.waylandschoolcommittee.org)
and at the Wayland Public Library.
Meeting minutes are also available.
Recent HSBC meetings have focused on the Massachusetts
School Building Authority (MSBA) activities and local Wayland groups interested
in participating in the planning for Wayland High School.
MSBA
regulations define a five-phase process.
The state and local community will work together at every step of the
new process. The five phases are: identify the problem, verify the problem,
collaborate on a solution, agree on a solution, and implement the agreed upon
solution. (See MSBA web site for details
at www.massschoolbuildings.org/)
Identify
the Problem (Statement of Interest) – The Wayland School Committee and Board
of Selectmen submitted a Statement of Interest (SOI) to the Massachusetts
School Building Authority in August 2006.
The SOI is the first step in the application process for state
funding. Schools are asked to document
deficiencies under eight statutory criteria: health and safety, existing severe
overcrowding, loss of accreditation, prevention of future severe overcrowding,
energy conservation and decreased energy costs, short term enrollment growth,
replacement of obsolete buildings, and transition from court ordered racial
balance districts to walk-to districts.
Wayland documented deficiencies in seven of the eight statutory
criteria.
Senior
Site Review - On August 14, 2007 Enrique Zuniga, Director of Quality Assurance
for MSBA, Joseph Miele, Senior Architect from STV, and Donald Corrie, Director
of Design from STV visited Wayland High School for the Senior Site Review. The MSBA engaged STV to provide an
additional, independent analysis of the assessments done by MSBA. Mr. Zuniga said that about one quarter of the
422 SOI-submitting schools were selected for a Senior Site Review.
Wayland High School
is one of 127 projects identified by districts as priorities. The MSBA will meet with all 127
districts. This meeting with local
officials will include discussion of local educational budgets, enrollment
trends, district maintenance practices, general educational goals, local
educational master plan, and baseline potential MSBA reimbursement percentage.
The MSBA will tailor resources to districts based on need (defined as poor facility condition and
ability to deliver the educational program) and urgency (defined as stable or
growing enrollment). These criteria will be used as the basis for
determining the approval process for gaining access to the “rolling capital
pipeline.” MSBA hopes to have their
background work for all 422 SOI applications (representing 161 school
districts) completed by the end of this month.
The MSBA board will begin selecting projects before the end of the year
to proceed with the next step – developing a Feasibility Study.
Next
Steps – When Wayland is selected by the MSBA to proceed with a
Feasibility Study, the HSBC will begin again to engage the community in
developing a solution to the facility problems at Wayland High School. MSBA will define the scope of a reimbursable
project by determining the enrollment, the square footage per student, and the
cost per square foot.
It is the intention of the HSBC to define a plan for Wayland
High School that will be widely supported by the taxpayers of Wayland. Building on the consensus that something
needs to be done to improve the high school facility, the HSBC will work
closely with MSBA to secure state funding and with the taxpayers of Wayland to
agree on a project.
Respectfully submitted,
Lea T. Anderson, HSBC Chairman
High School Building Committee Members
Lea Anderson 508-358-2667 leaanders@comcast.net
Josh Bekenstein 508-358-5651 jbekenstein@baincapital.com
Dianne Bladon 508-358-0068 dehbladon@aol.com
Steve Breit 508-358-7966 sbreit@comcast.net
Brian Chase 508-788-1081 abchase@comcast.net
Jim Howard 508-358-2619 howard.james@comcast.net
Fred Knight 508-358-0834 fred@knightway.org
David Lash 508-358-5294 david.lash@comcast.net
Mary Lentz 617-542-4141 mlentz@mccallalmy.com
Joe Lewin 508-653-9952 joelewin@comcast.net
Cindy Lombardo 508-358-5958 sweetlifer@aol.com
Eric Sheffels 508-358-5461 esheffels@aol.com
Jennifer Steel 508-652-1952 jsteel@FraminghamMA.gov
Karen Talentino 508-358-5961 talentino@comcast.net
Steve Tise 508-358-0047 setarch@aol.com