Elementary school project goes before MSBA next week

Elementary school project goes before MSBA next week
Eryn Dion
News Staff Writer

TEMPLETON - Superintendent Ruth Miller, along with representatives from the Elementary School Building Committee and interim Town Administrator Bob Markel, will go before the Massachusetts School Building Authority next week to update the board on the status of the Templeton Center Elementary School project.

With a new administration on Beacon Hill, Ms. Miller said there are several new faces on the school building authority that will need to be brought up to speed on the many roadblocks the elementary school project has faced over the years.

The MSBA had originally asked for the feasibility study and schematic/design portions to be submitted by April for a vote at its June meeting — a deadline that will prove “pretty rigorous” given their current pace.

Instead, Ms. Miller will argue that a November submission to the MSBA would be a more realistic goal, which would trigger the final funding vote from the town.

“We would be looking at voting in December or at the beginning of January,” Ms. Miller said.

All necessary testing and surveying at the Templeton Center Elementary School was completed before the town was buried under several feet of snow, allowing the project to move forward and stay in the MSBA pipeline.

“That’s the only reason we’re still in the game right now,” Ms. Miller commented.

Although the project has been severely delayed, Ms. Miller stated that there’s little chance the MSBA will remove the school from its funding list, unless it fails to pass at the ballot and stalls completely.

A year-end vote would set the project up for a late-2018 completion date, said Chairman Kirk Moschetti. There is some concern over the ability to fund the project, as the town’s bond rating will likely not be restored before the end of the year. However, Ms. Miller said the town could undertake short-term borrowing to get the project off the ground. Mr. Markel said he’s comfortable that the town’s rating will be restored in time to bond for the bulk of the project’s cost.

“We have the right financial team in place,” said Selectman Diane Haley Brooks.

Also up for discussion during next week’s meeting is the education plan for the new school and which grades will be included. Originally pitched as an elementary school for pre-K through fifth grade, project manager Jon Winikur has said it may only be possible to fit the fourth grade in the new building, given the limitations of the Templeton Center site.

“Because of the site, I think that’s the only way to go,” said School Committee member Henry Mason.

Narragansett’s fifth-graders currently go to the middle school, Ms. Miller said, and some parents have expressed concern over whether their children are socially mature enough to be with the older students. Keeping the fifth-graders in the middle school will save the project $4.5 million dollars, but committee members are reluctant to take the option off the table.

“Let’s let the designers dictate that,” said Mr. Moschetti.

The smaller space-saving measure of moving pre-K students to the joint middle and high school — as opposed to the new elementary building — was well-received by the committee, with Ms. Brooks describing the move as an “amazing idea.”