School Committee Votes to Keep High School Building Committee Following Failure of Funding Vote

The Burlington High School Building Committee on December 11 held their first meeting following the failed debt exclusion vote at the November 15 special election – and their last official meeting with Dore + Whittier and Tappé Architects, the firms retained to support the $1.5-million feasibility study, which has now concluded.

During the meeting, the Committee discussed whether or not to keep and maintain the project's website and what the district should do to maintain or update the school now that they know there will be no cash to fund construction of a new building.

During the feasibility process, it was determined that a renovation and code upgrade of the school would cost nearly as much as a new construction project; the state also has laws that trigger a code upgrade for the entire building once 50% or more of the building has been touched or a project exceeds 30% of the building's assessed value (which right now is around $65 million, according to conversation at the meeting).

In response to a question from Superintendent Eric Conti, Chris Blessen of Tappé Architects clarified that those thresholds are rolling over three years, meaning that if more than 50% of the building is touched or projects exceed roughly 19.5 million (30% of $65 million) in a rolling three-year period, then the whole building will need to be brought up to code. However, if smaller projects that stay below that threshold are undertaken, each part of the building will be brought up to code individually, though the project will take longer and likely be more disruptive.

Blessen assured the Committee that such a plan can be created with the help of a consultant to guide the district through the menu of infrastructure needs that are highest-priority and also fall under the financial and square footage thresholds that would require a complete building overhaul. He added, though, that while this approach would eventually update the building's systems, it wouldn't address educational issues related to classroom configuration and how it does or doesn't facilitate modern teaching methods.

Dr. Conti, following up on his comments from a recent School Committee meeting, recommended keeping the building committee together, and a motion was made by School Committee member Christine Monaco to that effect. The continued building committee will have two charges, said Monaco.

First, the group – which will likely retain many of the same members but also invites other community members to join – will collaborate with the community to write a new Statement of Interest for the Massachusetts School Building Authority's reimbursement program. The MSBA accepts applications until April and invites schools into the program in December of each year. Conti pointed out that the state discourages towns from hiring outside consultants to help with the statement writing process, since that would disadvantage communities that cannot afford an outside consultant.

The second responsibility would be to look into creating a plan for maintenance, renovation, and/or facilities improvement. The group would need outside support for this process, however, and would require funding from Town Meeting.

In the end, the three School Committee members who were present at the meeting voted 3-0 to continue the group. There was brief discussion of terminating the group and creating a new one, but Monaco and School Building Committee Chair Katherine Bond argued the committee, while its priorities will shift, will have a very similar composition and it would be simpler to just continue the current committee.

The committee agreed to meet again after the holidays.