Letter to the Editor: All Sizzle, No Steak

To the Editor:

Burlington High School’s proposed renovation plan is $330 million worth of sizzle with not a lot of steak.

This plan is not in the best interests of students or taxpayers. You’re being asked to pass a debt exclusion override for a project that won’t conclude with a new high school building. Towns like Billerica and Woburn are getting new buildings for significantly less than we’re being asked to pay for an addition/renovation. Key functions of the building that include the gyms and auditorium, will not be new. Additionally, the students who attended elementary school via their iPads during the COVID pandemic will be the same students who will be attending the high school during this construction. The project’s designers have confirmed that some of these areas of the building that are basic to high school rites of passage will be inaccessible to students during portions of the construction. For example, the building’s auditorium will be inaccessible to students for portions of the school year. This cohort of students who’ll be at the high school during construction have sacrificed enough, and don’t deserve additional disruption to their high school experience.

The fly in the ointment of the plan is the school administration’s insistence on leaving the “Center for Education” on the current building’s premises. The “Center for Education” will house non-high school related functions that include administrative offices, BCAT TV and a preschool. This portion of the project is costing $66 million or $703 per square foot. Meanwhile, local commercial property owners are downsizing their portfolios and selling space for between $250 to $300 million per square foot. These non-high school related functions should be moved offsite for potential savings. The insistence of leaving the “Center for Education” and non-high school related functions on the current premises limited the possibility of an entirely new building while watering down the whole plan.

Students deserve to be put first. This plan requires a lot of strain and sacrifice from many different demographics in the community without the upside of an entirely new building for the cost we’re shouldering. The current plan is akin to paying for a filet mignon and getting a Big Mac. Let’s do this project right the first time and start by voting NO on or before November 15^th.

Adam Senesi
13 Town Line Road
Town Meeting Member
Treasurer, NO New Taxes Committee