School Committee Votes Again On MSMS Fields Warrant Article

The School Committee voted last night to rescind their vote from the day before to withdraw Article 25, presented in conjunction with the Recreation Department, which requests more than $6.7 million to rehabilitate the track and fields at Marshall Simonds Middle School, from this May's Town Meeting Warrant. This recision happened before the Buzz even had the chance to report on the vote (albeit expected) to withdraw the MSMS Fields Warrant Article from discussion at Town Meeting.

The request to replace both the grass and turf fields and rehabilitate the track at the middle school came about after the field study commissioned by Burlington Public Schools laid out the district's facilities needs with respect to playing fields. The district's first priority, the baseball fields at Francis Wyman, will be addressed after the end of the baseball season, and next up were the middle school fields and track.

The article requests funding to refurbish the existing turf field, replace the grass field with turf, and resurface the track. Accessibility ramps, lighting, and more would also be added.

Adding an additional turf field, and adding throwing surfaces to the middle school track, would increase the flexibility of practice and game space and provide more options to athletes in school and recreation programs. Turf is more durable and can be played on regardless of the weather. And, having more options will make it easier for youth programs to use the track and fields earlier in the day—currently, middle schoolers could be out playing as late as 10:00 at night.

The risk to not performing this work, according to BPS Facilities Director, Bob Cunha and Athletic Director, Shaun Hart, is continued degradation of the surfaces. Fields that are past their life span can experience a lessening shock absorbency, though these fields are not past their life span and there is no evidence that the middle school fields are approaching that point. The track, if not resurfaced within a certain window, will need to be re-rubberized sooner than planned, which is a more costly endeavor.

This article went in front of the Ways & Means Committee, the town's finance committee, more than once, and the Committee ultimately voted 4-8 against recommending it to Town Meeting. Many members were uncomfortable with the price tag in a year when two big building projects are expected to go before Town Meeting. Other members expressed concern that any bonds taken out to pay for these projects would still be being paid for when the field needs to be replaced again.

Still other Ways & Means members are waiting on more information to be able to endorse the spending. What is the replacement schedule and cost going to be for these fields? And how can the town plan for this without a clear picture of what will be needed with respect to other athletic fields in town? The Recreation Department is working with a consultant to create a facilities study, and Ways & Means members want to see that study's completion and combination with the school field study to create a comprehensive plan that encompasses all the town's athletic facilities.

A question was raised about splitting up the project into smaller components, but ultimately it wasn't clear which would go first or if there is a true economy of scale with getting everything done at the same time.

Earlier this year, the School Committee voted unanimously in favor of recommending this MSMS Fields Warrant Article to Town Meeting. But after the Ways & Means vote, the School Committee voted 3-2 to withdraw it, with members Melissa Massardo and Jeremy Brooks dissenting. Superintendent Dr. Conti recommended this course of action, stating he doesn't want to bring something to Town Meeting without Ways & Means support. But Massardo and Brooks argued that there's no harm in bringing the article before Town Meeting to see what discussion unfolds and what the body will need to see in order to approve the spend.

The vote was still split last night as the School Committee discussed the article once more, but Chair Christine Monaco's vote swung the decision toward Massardo and Brooks and in favor of keeping the article on the Warrant. Members Bond and Nawoichik expressed that they didn't feel like all the information was available to make this article ready for discussion at Town Meeting. Monaco's vote was under the condition that Massardo & Brooks and Monaco would be able to express their rationale for voting as they did when the article is presented.

We'll see how the discussion goes at Town Meeting, as the body continues to move through the warrant this evening and possibly into next Monday.