OPINION - "Where to build a new school"

Medfield MA

23 September, 2021

7:20 PM

Description

Letter of Opinion... Dear Fellow Residents, Where to build a new school, how large and what will it look like, are questions residents of every generation face in a town. Over the history of Medfield, the needs, size and location of the schools in town have evolved as the population has changed. The citizen's of Medfield, are at that crossroad again with the new Elementary School project. I have worked as an Owner's Project Manager for 19 years and have led towns through the feasibility study process on seven school projects in neighboring Towns. Each Town struggled with similar topics, questions, concerns and tradeoffs during their school feasibility study. The charge of a School Building Committee (SBC) is to evaluate a myriad of options, grade configurations and locations for a school project. A SBC should establish a set of criteria to help frame and analyze the options, inclusive of the educational program, cost, schedule, swing space, traffic, future expansion/flexibility, permitting, construction impacts to students, and community impacts. Many towns then add specific criteria like playing fields, sustainability, security, etc. The Medfield SBC developed a similar set of criteria that they used to complete the relative analysis of comparing the options. Over the summer and into the fall of 2020 the SBC discussed and evaluated eleven options on multiple sites to arrive at a recommended solution. The SBC concluded that the grades 4-5 option was in the best economical solution for the town over the grades 3-5 option. The SBC concluded that option G1, a new school on the Wheelock campus was the preferred option for the town to pursue. When you review the evaluation matrix of the criteria filled out by individual SBC members, it is clear that the Wheelock campus option is superior to the existing Dale campus. There has been a lot of discussion since about which option or site is best. In addition to the core criteria, residents have raised other considerations, such as loss of open space. The land being used for the new school at Wheelock includes the playing field behind the existing school and a small grove of trees between railroad tracks, water department service road and the existing Wheelock school. This land now and in the future would be set aside for school uses. Medfield is fortunate to have thousands of acres of preserved open space with loads of amazing hiking trails and protected wetlands. The biodiversity of those locations are very different than the land that will be used to build the new school. Traffic is a concern with all school projects, even if building on the same site. New schools are generally replacing 50 – 80 year old schools that were built before driving to school was the norm. The main impact of traffic on school projects is the 20 minutes in the morning drop off and afternoon pickup and not a day long gridlock. Traffic is important but should not be the driver on a school project. The costs of the new school at Wheelock may cost more than the Dale street option, but it also comes with added improvements to the traffic circulation, parking and stormwater management for the existing Wheelock School. Hopkinton residents voted no on a new elementary school in 2011. It then took 4.5 years to get back to the same vote again with the Town and the MSBA. A no vote on the new school at Wheelock will have a similar delay and significant cost increases with escalation and changing building codes. Looking at the long-range development of our schools, retaining the Dale School at the current site will limit potential redevelop options for Memorial School when that building eventually needs upgrading or expansion for pre-kindergarten, pushing the current debate on to that generation of residents. Many important criteria have been discussed related to the options, but the pros to retain Dale at Dale do not offset all of the criteria that favored the Wheelock site. The Medfield SBC, School Committee and Select Board each followed the proper steps, had robust discussions, provided serious consideration of the options then arrived at the conclusion of what they believe is the best option for the town. As a professional in the industry, reviewing the data and the options developed, I believe that the committees made the appropriate recommendation for the best option for future generations. Sincerely, Jeff D'Amico, Granite Street, Medfield