Blackstone OKs money for school designs
BLACKSTONE – Special Town Meeting voters Wednesday agreed r to appropriate $75,000 to develop schematic designs for repairs and upgrades to the John F. Kennedy Elementary School in Blackstone. d Developing a final design program and schematic designs is the fourth step in the Massachusetts School Building Authority’s (MSBA) grant program for school building construction and renovation projects. Once a feasibility d study is complete, the school district enters module 4 (schematic design). There are a total of eight modules in the building project process.
At Wednesday’s 15-minute special town meeting, a two-thirds majority of voters approved the d $75,000 appropriation, which will be taken from free cash. The funding article – one of two on the warrant – was recommended by the Board of Selectmen and the Finance Committee.
The Kennedy school project is expected to cost $5 million. Approximately 58 percent, or $1.74 million, of that would be picked up by the Massachusetts School Building Authority leaving the balance for the town of Blackstone to finance. The town’s share of the project would likely be bonded over a 20-year note.
A facilities study drafted by the New England School Development Council has identified major deficiencies at the 46-year-old Blackstone-Millville Regional High School and the 51-year-old John F. Kennedy/ Augustine F. Maloney school complex, including old and inefficient HVAC and electrical systems and the need new for energy efficient windows, doors and lighting.
The School District submitted statements of interest to the MSBA last January, which was the first step toward potential MSBA funding for major renovations to the John F. Kennedy Elementary School in Blackstone, the Augustine F. Maloney School in Blackstone, the Millville Elementary School in Millville, and the Blackstone-Millville Regional High School.
Only the John F. Kennedy Elementary School was invited into the funding process by the MSBA for repairs and upgrades under the MSBA’s accelerated repair program. The Maloney School and Millville Elementary School were not invited to move forward due to the large number of applications.
The MSBA also declined to invite the district into it’s MSBA core program project pipeline to fund extensive repairs and renovations to the regional high school.
School Supt. Allen Himmelberger says statements of interest for the high school, Maloney School and Millville Elementary School will be resubmitted for the MSBA’s next round of funding in the spring.
If the high school is eventually accepted into the MSBA’s core program, that projected $25 million project could receive 58 percent reimbursement, leaving the towns of Blackstone and Millville responsible for 42 percent of the cost, which would be roughly $10 million - $7 million for Blackstone and $2 million for Millville.
The Blackstone-Millville Regional School District includes one elementary school in Millville (Millville Elementary School, preschool-Grade 5); two elementary schools in Blackstone (John F. Kennedy, kindergarten-Grade 3 and Augustine F. Maloney, Grades 4-5); and a middle school and high school in Blackstone (Frederick W. Hartnett Middle School and Blackstone-Millville Regional High School).
The district serves 1,882 students, has a 135-member teaching staff and is overseen by an elected eight-member School Committee, with four members from each town.
Voters Wednesday also approved the second article on the warrant – a $40,000 appropriation to purchase a 2017 Ford F-350 pickup truck to replace a recycling center truck that was totaled in an accident.