High School Project Leads Burlington's September 2025 Town Meeting Warrant
At Burlington's Town Meeting, which begins on September 29, representatives will debate bylaw changes and funding requests
The warrant for Burlington's September 2025 Town Meeting has landed on the town website, and the headliner is most certainly the request by the School Committee for permission to borrow nearly $335 million for an addition-renovation project at Burlington High School.
The high school has been on the town's list of priorities for over a decade, but requests to join the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) reimbursement program have been denied each year. When the Fox Hill Elementary School was accepted into the MSBA program, the School Committee opted to pursue a new high school without the support of the MSBA.
Town Meeting in 2023 appropriated $1.5 million for a feasibility study to determine the best course of action for a new or renovated high school, and earlier this year the project team came to the decision that an addition-renovation would be the best option to retain the non-high-school areas the School Committee identified as necessary while also bringing the school building up to 21st century standards for design and educational features. The new design features some renovated portions, including the Burlington Early Childhood Center preschool, the central office, and the gymnasiums, as well as a brand new classroom wing.
The warrant article states Town Meeting's authorization to borrow is dependent on a town-wide vote to allow a debt exclusion, which is expected to happen before the end of 2025.
Learn more about the project and next steps in Buzz Magazine: Fall Edition as well as on Burlington At Work (episode debuts September 15 at 8:00 PM on BCAT and YouTube).
Also on the Town Meeting Warrant, a $30,000 request to fund that aforementioned debt exclusion election, acceptance of $73,000 from the Will of Marshall Simonds, another attempt by Conservation to separate the department's regulations out from the bylaw, a resolution regarding the ICE facility at 1000 District Ave., and more.
The Buzz's full warrant summary will be available soon at the Burlington Buzz website.
