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Daily Buzz | School Question to Seek Feedback via Non-Binding Referendum

And, don't miss Public Safety Night

Nicci Kadilak

— 3 min read
Daily Buzz | School Question to Seek Feedback via Non-Binding Referendum

Good Morning, Burlington!

Before we begin, I wanted to remind you that Public Safety Night will be held at Wegmans tonight! More info here.

The School Building Committee met last night (while I and many of my neighbors were at Fenway watching a pretty rad show) to begin investigating options for the Fox Hill Building Project.

The evening began and ended with public participation, and we heard from a handful of neighbors with different perspectives. I’ll summarize that portion of the meeting tomorrow, but for today I want to focus on the two main takeaways so you can read the Buzz with the last dregs of your morning coffee rather than your afternoon tea:

  • The Committee voted to approach the Select Board about holding a non-binding referendum to seek public feedback on the suitability of the options available. There was much discussion about this, and the vote ended up passing 8-3 with Dr. Conti, Ms. Bond, and Ms. Monaco voting against it.

    • Pro arguments:

      • We are only hearing from a very narrow segment of the population, and we need to hear what the town as a whole thinks.

      • This will inform the Committee when making a final decision (though it’s non-binding, so other pertinent information could supersede the vote.

      • If you recall, the Community Preservation Act failed last November. This would have involved a tax increase of $60-75 per year. It’s in the community’s best interest that the School Building Committee put forth the option to the town that meets our students’ educational needs wihle also being capable of passing either a debt exclusion (temporary tax increase) or a proposition 2.5 override (permanent tax increase).

    • Argument(s) against:

      • There will be a lot of education necessary, and it’s been hard to reach voters.

      • There won’t be an easy way to represent what might happen with Pine Glen if the town ultimately decides to build a 325-student Fox Hill, because there are so many options.

    • Other notes:

      • This would be separate from the general election and is anticipated to cost about $30,000.

      • The Town Counsel will have the final say on the wording of the referendum from a legal perspective.

    Note: This vote was just to begin the process of researching the possibility of a referendum.

  • The options involving repairs, renovations, and additions were struck down due to the reasons cited here yesterday: They either didn’t meet the educational plan, or they were more expensive than the full rebuild, or they required relocation during construction with nowhere for students to actually relocate to. The options remaining are:

    • Option 3: Rebuild Fox Hill for 325 students.

    • Option 6: Rebuild Fox Hill + Pine Glen for 640 students at the Fox Hill campus.

    • Option 8: Rebuild Fox Hill + Pine Glen for 640 students at the Pine Glen campus.

    Note: All of these options still need to be included in the report for financial comparison purposes, but the committee is focusing just on just these three options during their investigations.

Share this Buzz with someone who pays taxes in Burlington, so they can stay informed as the school building process proceeds.

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That’s all for today. See you tomorrow with more information!

Nicci

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