Maintenance and Efficiency Prioritized in School Town Meeting Articles

We are more than halfway through reviewing the Town Meeting Warrant for May 2024, and today we'll focus on the School Town Meeting Articles. The large themes here are maintenance and efficiency, as old systems are revamped or replaced and the items and structures that enhance the district's efficiency and efficacy are reinforced.

Note: A contingency is built in to most of these requests in case the cost of goods or labor changes between the time of quote procurement (usually around February) and the time the funds are allocated and ready to be used. Funds granted by Town Meeting can only be used for the stated purpose, so any unused portion will be returned to the town.

• Article 7-14 - Pine Glen Air Conditioning Phase 2 - This Article for $322,416 is to account for the shortfall that was presented to the district when they went to use the previously-allocated $500,000 to install mini-split units in Pine Glen. The quote nearly doubled from the time it was issued to the time the district was ready to make the purchase. The cost of goods has gone down a little, but not back to the original price.
• Article 7-15 - BHS HVAC Repairs - This $281,000 in funding will go toward replacing worn or failed HVAC components in the rooftop penthouses at Burlington High School. (Don't get excited, these penthouses don't house humans—just heating & ventilation equipment!)
• Article 7-16 - BHS Refurbish Boilers - This $150,579 is for the retubing of three boilers at the high school.
• Article 7-17 - District Wide Security Updates - $82,390 for communications hardware, emergency signaling, and more.
• Article 7-18 - FW Generator - Francis Wyman Elementary School has a 20-year-old emergency generator, and this Article is for $95,068 to replace it.
• Article 7-19 - MSMS Critical Building Systems Upgrade - This would include smoke arms for hallway doors, a refrigerant monitor, and the programming of a control module to help gain the maximum usefulness and efficiency out of the HVAC system at Marshall Simonds Middle School; the request is for $113,203.
• Article 7-20 - BHS Fiber Connection - $43,599 to connect the fields with the school via fiber, replacing the current wireless connection.
• Article 7-21 - BHS Electric Forklift - $50,160 to replace a 20-year-old forklift and keep transportation of materials through the 370,000-square-foot high school efficient.
• Article 7-22 - District Wide Maintenance Vehicle - $65,890 to buy a vehicle so the district's 5 maintenance employees don't need to use their personal vehicles to transport materials from school to school.
• Article 7-23 - MSMS Bathrooms - $358,547 to renovate bathrooms that weren't included in the 2011 renovation project.
• Article 7-24 - MSMS Locker Rooms - $288,840 t0 rework the locker rooms at the middle school to make them more functional; they're not currently used as locker rooms, so they would be reconfigured into a fitness center, classroom, and bathrooms.
• Article 7-25 - FH Cafeteria Tables - $55,473 to replace worn, chipped tables that have had to be fixed numerous times.
• Article 7-26 - PG Fencing - $25,025 to replace aged and damaged fencing at Pine Glen Elementary School.
• Article 7-27 - MSMS Furniture - technology and science lab furniture and more ($132,515).
• Article 7-28 - District Wide Curriculum Review - Nearly a quarter of a million dollars to fund the ongoing review and alignment of K-12 math and ELA curriculum in Burlington Public Schools. This will pay for professional services and teacher professional development around this revamp.
• Article 7-29 - BHS Music Room Flooring - Back in 2022, Town meeting approved $500,000 to change the floor of the music room at the high school to make the space more accessible. That funding was reallocated in 2023 toward a feasibility study for the high school, and the district has come up with another solution. These will be semi-permanent risers that can be re-used after the high school takes whatever new form it ends up taking. ($192,500)
• Article 7-30 - BHS Carpet Replacement - $109,577 for replacement of 10,000 square feet of carpeting at BHS and in the central administration offices.
• Article 24 - School Community Custodial Services - The School Department provides custodial services for Scout meetings, PTO meetings, and other "not for profit Burlington civic organizations" when they meet on school campuses after hours. This Article covers an allotment of hours for these groups valued at $51,511.
• Article 26 - School Transportation - Approval of Contract Term - The school district is seeking a new transportation contract, as the current contract is expiring. Any contract longer than three years is required to go through Town Meeting for an approval of the contract term. The proposed contract is for five years, hence this articles.
• Article 29 - Shawsheen Stabilization Fund - This article requests that the town create a stabilization fund for Shawsheen Tech. According to the Budget Book glossary, stabilization funds are "designated to accumulate amounts for capital and other future
  spending purposes." This doesn't require funding, just sets up the fund.

Those are the School Town Meeting Articles for this May. There is still work to do to understand the full depth of the Town Meeting Warrant, but the Buzz will be with you all the way. For details or more information, reach out to the School Department or check out the full text of the Warrant and Backup.

This year’s Annual Town Meeting will begin on Monday, May 13, at 7:00 PM and will continue on Wednesday and Monday evenings until the entire Warrant has been reviewed. Stay tuned to the Buzz for summaries of the articles in the Town Meeting Warrant and how Town Meeting votes on each.