BURLINGTON WEATHER

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Community members and town officials gathered April 30 at Fox Hill Elementary School to mark the start of construction on a new school building, just months after voters rejected a $330 million plan to renovate and rebuild the town’s high school.

Work on the new school gets underway as the town continues to weigh competing major capital investments, including a new police station and the unresolved future of the high school, which voters rejected in a recent debt exclusion vote after two years of planning and a $1.5 million feasibility study.

Fox Hill Elementary School, which opened in 1967, has aging infrastructure affecting students and teachers. “At the beginning of this project we had to tell our teachers, don't ask for working windows or working sinks because those are basic requirements of our new school," said School Building Committee Chair Melissa Massardo. "We have to say the same thing about air conditioning and real walls. That speaks to the conditions that our students and teachers have been working under for far too long.”

Burlington High School opened in 1973, and its failing systems and outdated layout have required long-term planning discussions. With the Fox Hill project expected to cost the town nearly $70 million, and a $40-million-plus police station also in the works, some residents were concerned about the town's ability to fund the high school – the project many still say should have taken priority before Fox Hill.

The high school was the district’s priority for nearly a decade, with annual applications to the Massachusetts School Building Authority from 2012 through 2024, all of which were rejected. The district shifted focus in 2020, when Fox Hill was accepted into the MSBA program amid concerns about overcrowding and outdated facilities. A multi-year feasibility process was initiated with support from Owner's Project Manager Dore & Whittier and architectural firm DiNisco Design to determine the best course of action and ultimately design a school building that will function well into the 21st century.

Earlier in the planning process, officials considered combining Fox Hill with nearby Pine Glen Elementary School to achieve economies of scale, but ultimately decided against consolidation.

The new Fox Hill school is expected to open in spring 2028, while the school district has submitted its 14th Statement of Interest to the MSBA in 15 years as it continues seeking funding for a high school solution. The High School Building Committee is exploring a phased renovation approach to address infrastructure challenges that remain unresolved following the failed $330 million proposal.

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