Focus on Fox Hill Part 2: The Decision Not to Consolidate
Burlington's Fox Hill Elementary School was accepted into the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) program in 2021. As discussed previously, this was following a decade of rejections for Burlington High School, for reasons the town can't say for sure but likely had to do with the overall good condition of the building and lack of enrollment pressure.
After the project team was formed, the first step was to perform a feasibility study. During this period, the design team looked at all required iterations of a new Fox Hill, including a combination of Fox Hill and the nearby and similarly-aged Pine Glen. It was quickly determined that just bringing the buildings up to code was not going to address the concerns put forth in the Statement of Interest for the Fox Hill project—namely, that the school was too small for the number of students it contained and that the building wasn't a good physical space for an elementary school. Similarly, addition-renovation for either school didn't make sense financially or address the fundamental problem Fox Hill was facing.
The choice left before the School Building Committee was whether to consolidate Fox Hill and Pine Glen into one building (which would probably gone on the larger Fox Hill site) or to leave Pine Glen alone and rebuild Fox Hill.
The School Committee had taken a non-binding vote previously to maintain the town's current model of four smaller elementary schools. In consideration of that vote, the combined school, while consolidated, was planned with a wing for Fox Hill and a wing for Pine Glen, a solution which some hoped would maintain the feel of two smaller schools while reaping the benefits of consolidation.
One important part of the conversation here has been the number of students that will attend the new Fox Hill Elementary School. We'll get more into that in a future installment, but here's a quick context-setting: According to last year's numbers, Burlington Public Schools has 1,658 elementary school students: 455 in Fox Hill (built in 1967), 334 in Pine Glen (built in 1962), 383 in Memorial (built in 2011), and 485 in Francis Wyman (built in 1968; renovated in 1996). The MSBA used their formulas, which take into account birth rates and fertility rates and a number of other rates, as well as the capacities of the other elementary schools in town, to determine the enrollment each school would accommodate. The single Fox Hill school would be built for an enrollment of 325 students, while the combined Fox Hill-Pine Glen school would be built for 325 Fox Hill students + 315 Pine Glen students = 640 students.
Arguments in favor of consolidation
Fox Hill and Pine Glen were both built in the 1960s. They're the oldest schools in the district, and consolidating them would take them both off of the long-term capital plan for a very long time. Financially, the town would have benefitted both from the economy of scale of combining two buildings into one AND from a larger MSBA reimbursement for the combined building. Preliminary estimates put the cost difference of the district share for the two options at about $35 million, whereas building the Pine Glen school on its own was estimated around $93 million without reimbursement.
Proponents of consolidation also cite equity, stating the town will still have a 60-year-old school that will need to be rebuilt eventually.
Arguments against consolidation
The district says Pine Glen functions much better as a school than Fox Hill does. Its layout is more like a traditional school, and the systems, roof, etc. have plenty of life left in them, says Operations Director, Bob Cunha. And, says Superintendent, Eric Conti, Fox Hill is currently the least equitable school in the district due to its lack of space and the outdated layout.
Opponents of consolidation cited neighborhood concerns: The traffic would increase during pickup and dropoff times; a three-story building would eclipse the property, which currently features a lot of green space. And, concerns for the students' comfort and safety in such a large building were also expressed.
From a finance perspective, things are getting tight with three major building projects on the horizon. Some argue that, with the high school having to proceed without MSBA support and the police station already approved, the single Fox Hill (which the state has deemed necessary) will have a greater chance of garnering approval than a combined building with a bigger price tag.
A handful of Burlington residents spoke at various community meetings, and most were against consolidation. These were largely Fox Hill neighbors and teachers at both Fox Hill and Pine Glen, who were in favor of maintaining the two smaller, separate schools, and said Pine Glen is not in the same state of need as Fox Hill.
The School Building Committee, including members who were in favor of consolidating, voted not to consolidate the two schools and sent that decision to the state in December 2023. Since then, the focus has been on creating a schematic design that addresses the needs of the Fox Hill school, while things have returned to business as usual for Pine Glen, which just had mini-split units installed for air conditioning.
Tune back in tomorrow for more talk of enrollment and student capacity and on Thursday for a look at the financial impact. Learn more about the project at the Fox Hill Building Project website via the videos embedded under the top image. Learn more about the history of school buildings in Burlington in our In-Depth report.
