Town Meeting Narrowly Approves BHS Borrowing

In a vote that was beginning to seem like it would never happen, Burlington's Town Meeting last night voted to approve borrowing of $333,000,000 and change to fund an addition-renovation for the Burlington High School building, which has been in use since 1971.

After reports from the Town Administrator's office, the Human Services Committee, and the Government Review Committee (Article 1) and an approval to set the 2026 town election date to April 11 (Article 2), debate on Article 3 began with very explicit instructions from Moderator Bill Beyer on how the debate would be conducted to preserve order and predictability.

The School Building Committee first showed a 10-minute video outlining the process from the beginning to its present state, followed by presentations from Building Committee Chair Katherine Bond, Superintendent Eric Conti, and Ways & Means member/Building Committee Member/Town Meeting Member Doug Davison.

Related Committees then reported their positions: The Ways & Means Committee (the town's finance committee), the Select Board, and the School Committee all unanimously voted in favor of this project, while the Capital Budget Committee couldn't share their votes due to a clerical error.

Following those presentations, Town Meeting Members spent nearly 3 hours debating this project, which represents the highest dollar amount ever to come before Town Meeting.

Commentary opened with opposition to the project, which took many forms throughout the night - from concerns about the impact of demolition on neighboring homes, to debate about accessibility issues, to the urging to wait for this project until the kids who were in elementary school during the COVID-19 pandemic have graduated. Many challenged the design and the process (which began in May of 2023) that led to the design, saying this request felt rushed and they weren't satisfied that new facilities were needed.

One particular point of contention was the "Center for Education," Which is the portion of the current building that houses Burlington Cable Access Television, the Burlington Early Childhood Center, the district's Central Administration, the science center, and other facilities. As these facilities don't fall within the general high school programming, some argued, the building should be re-envisioned without the renovation and addition to that building, which would give age-appropriateness to the preschool space and add facilities for robotics and other programs.

Town Meeting Member Adam Senesi attempted to propose an amended amount to lessen the total by the estimated cost of the Center for Education, but that motion was ruled out of order.

The concerns in the room were all founded in the hesitation around the tax increase that will be levied on residents once the project is fully bonded, which will be nearly $1,200 per year on the median home in Burlington. Many – especially seniors living on a fixed income – said this, added to the increases that will be hitting tax bills as a result of the police station and Fox Hill projects, is too much for residents to absorb all at once.

Members Schiffon Wong and Sharon Lore reminded the body that when the Fox Hill project was before it last September, they and three others opposed the funding – in large part because they feared funding the elementary school would jeopardize funding for the high school, which serves all the town's students rather than just a subset.

Many Town Meeting Members, some of whom were Building Committee members, spoke in favor of the project, emphasizing that having a plan for renovation-addition for this 50-plus-year-old building, which still has its original mechanical systems, is better than having a failure that creates an urgent need for renovation. The need for modern facilities, including science labs and rooms with windows to the outside, was also emphasized.

Addressing conversations on social media suggesting parents unhappy with the School Committee would use this as an opportunity to deny them a win, Town Meeting Member and former School Committee member Carl Foss urged the body to separate their feelings about School Committee members from what's best for students.

Many community members who are not elected Town Meeting Members were present to speak, but Town Meeting Members were allowed to speak first and had hours' worth of commentary and questions before two community members were allowed to speak in the 11:00 hour. One, John Tucci, said that as an architect and builder he did not agree with the design of the building; the other, Melissa Haase, urged the body to approve the project, saying, "Our children need to live in the future. We are doing them a disservice if we do not prepare them for the world they're going to live in, which is ...computer-based learning, and it is something that this building is not going to give them."

Following Haase's comments, a motion was made to end debate and force a vote – the third such motion on the evening, following two failed motions to adjourn – and a roll call vote was taken. Article 3 passed 77-29-1; a 2/3 vote was required.

The next step in the process will be a town-wide debt exclusion vote, which will allow the town to raise taxes to cover the project until the debt is paid off. The town's last two attempts at a debt exclusion, first to renovate Francis Wyman and Memorial Elementary and then to renovate Marshall Simonds and build a new Memorial Elementary, both failed in what look to have been special elections (one in November and one in December). However, there is some recent local precedent, as Wilmington did recently overwhelmingly approve an exclusion for a new elementary school. (Notably, though, the Wilmington project will be receiving state reimbursement.)

The Select Board will meet this afternoon to approve a date for the special election which will decide the project's fate. Town Meeting will continue on Monday, October 6, beginning at 7:00 PM.

Editor’s Note: this article was updated to clarify that a 2/3 vote was needed for Article 3.