Letter to the Editor: In Favor of the Burlington High School Project
A Letter to the Editor from Martha Simon regarding the Burlington High School Building Project
More than 10 years ago, the Burlington Public Schools reviewed all of its buildings and the top priority was the renovation or replacement of Burlington High School. The School District started applying to the state agency which helps fund school building projects (the MSBA). When I joined the School Committee ten years ago, we had not been selected into their program for three years already. In spite of these rejections, we continued to apply to the state, each time with no success.
The feedback MSBA gave us was that our application was a good one, and that we should do the project. However, they receive over 90 applications each year and they only have enough money for about 15 projects a year. In addition, one of their top criteria for accepting a project is enrollment pressure. Burlington’s enrollment has been relatively flat and will remain so in the future. As a result, MSBA never gave us any money.
Note – MSBA does not reimburse for administrative space – but that is not a criteria for acceptance or rejection of state funding for a project. It just means the town has to pay the full cost of renovations to administrative spaces. Over the 13 years that we applied for BHS, MSBA suggested a few tweaks to our application but NEVER suggested that the administrative space was a problem.
After 13 years of being turned down by the MSBA, Town Meeting generously funded a $1.5 million feasibility study so that we could move forward on our own. The Burlington High School Building Committee was formed with 22 people from the community and the schools, and for two years we have worked along with professionals with expertise in school buildings and architecture.
The BHS Building Committee has carefully reviewed more than a dozen possible plans. There were some options that seemed promising but turned out to be not feasible. We have chosen the project that is before you – a brand-new academic wing for our students, renovations to some expensive parts of the building that are still usable (like the gyms and auditorium), and demolition of the worst parts of the building.
This project also has the advantage of the least disruption for students. They will remain in their current classrooms until the new classrooms are ready and move only once.
