Schools

Daily Buzz | Good Financial News from School Building Committee

And Community Meeting scheduled for December 5

Nicci Kadilak

— 4 min read
Daily Buzz | Good Financial News from School Building Committee

Good Morning, Burlington!

andlocal food pantryUpgrade now

Good Financial News from School Building Committee

The Sustainability Working Group of the Fox Hill School Building Committee will be meeting today to discuss some preliminary sustainability studies for the new building to be constructed on the Fox Hill site. They gave a preview of this presentation at the School Building Committee meeting on Monday evening, and the news is good: The lifetime cost of geothermal heat pump systems, including state rebates, is actually lower than the less environmentally sustainable options. So, a win-win.

The SBC also discussed the height and location of the new building. They settled on a two-story construction, which was roughly equivalent in cost and seemed to be a better layout for promoting a community feel and creating ease of access for services and specials like PE, art, and music.

Construction cost estimates were also presented, and some good news came out of that discussion as well: The Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) has increased their reimbursement for both construction (from $393 to $550 per square foot) and site work (from $39 to $55 per square foot) AND they now allow towns to claim rebates (such as the one described above) rather than reducing the reimbursement to account for them. So, based on current estimates, the district share for the new Fox Hill building looks like it will be closer to $65 million than the original projection of around $80 million—more good news for Burlington, as the police station and high school capital projects begin to move into the next phase of discussion. It’s worth stating that these are still not final numbers, and they’re subject to change, but they are more fine-tuned than the original numbers which were based on cost per square foot.

There was also a conversation about where the school building will be located on the property. Bill Boivin from the Conservation Commission expressed a preference for building the school closer to the vernal pool located in the nearby woods, using the building as a kind of buffer between the protected wetland area and human activity. The location hasn’t been set in stone, but it’s clear the School Committee and Conservation Commission want the same things but might have different views on how to accomplish it.

The Fox Hill Building Committee will hold a Community Informational Meeting on December 5 at 7 PM. This meeting will be hybrid at BHS and online.

And, here’s your recap from last night’s School Committee meeting:

  • Safe Routes to School sponsored a very successful Walk/Bike/Roll to School day at Fox Hill and Memorial. There will be a Winter Walk in February. Queueing of cars on Fox Hill Road and Westwood has been eliminated because of some dismissal scheduling changes. And, the Transportation Subcommittee will be meeting soon to discuss seeking a new bus contract.

  • High school Social Studies teachers will be attending a national conference in Nashville.

  • After beginning in the elementary schools and growing through the middle school, the strings program will be expanding into the high school, and a stipend was approved.

  • Assistant Superintendent, Lisa Chen, gave what has become a regular, in-depth and very informative update. Some highlights:

    • The first meeting of the math curriculum review happened.

    • The human sexuality curriculum is under development.

    • All K-5 teachers will be trained in Understanding Dyslexia.

    • There will be a Computer Science Family Night in February.

    • The Francis Wyman playground is open.

    • Device and other technology replacement plans are being created.

  • The multilingual/English Learner population at the high school had doubled from last year and is expected to increase again in the winter. Many of these students have no or limited formal education. An English Learner Instructional Assistant position was approved to support these students in obtaining their high school diplomas.

  • The 325-student enrollment projection for the new Fox Hill building was approved, with Mr. Brooks and Ms. Massardo noting that the School Committee should begin planning for redistricting now to avoid a bunch of shuffling later.

  • Burlington, along with a number of districts around the country, is a part of a class action lawsuit by the Office of Civil Rights for website accessibility, and while most of the website’s content meets accessibility standards, many of the documents that need to be shared, such as the district calendar and the budget spreadsheets, are difficult to make into a readable format. This is something that the district is working to figure out.

Subscribe now
☕ Tip Jar ☕

Today in Burlington

Municipal Meetings and Community Events

And with that, I’m out. Have a great one, Burlington!

Nicci

Share this Buzz with someone who is super into sustainability.

Read more