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FRAMINGHAM – The Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) rejected Framingham’s statement of Interest (SOI) for plans to build a new South side elementary school twice in 2022.
SOURCE published yesterday, January 3, that when the MSBA Board voted at its December 2022 meeting, it did not invite Framingham into its program. The Board did the same in February 2022. City leaders announced the rejection in early 2022 but have made no announcement on the second rejection.
Framingham Public Schools submitted a Statement of Interest (SOI) for its Hemenway Elementary School, on Water Street, in the North section of the City. The school is more than 6 decades old.
An application or (SOI) can only be submitted for an existing school not a proposed school. But within its application, the City/School District can renovate an existing school, tear down an existing school and rebuild at the same site, or build a new school at a different site.
School & City leaders in their application expressed an interest to build a new elementary school on the South Side of the City, where a majority of the student population lives.
Last night, the 11-member City Council, Mayor Charlie Sisitsky, and the School Committee Chair and Vice Chair had a closed door meeting for about 45-minutes to discuss the purchase of property on Bethany Road for a new elementary school.
The purchase price has not been released by City leaders.
No announcement was made after the closed door meeting.
Tonight, January 4, the 9-member School Committee has it on its agenda to discuss what to do now after a second rejection by the state for grant funding. Meeting starts at 7 p.m. in the Blumer room at the Memorial Building. It will also be available on Zoom and Facebook live.
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“This is a School Committee item for discussion, but my inclination would be that the School Committee will want to resubmit our Statement of Interest (SOI) to the MSBA for consideration in 2023. That application window opens later this month,” said Framingham Superintendent of Schools Bob Tremblay to SOURCE.
“A more definitive action plan will be discussed” among members tomorrow evening. ” among the School Committee members, said Tremblay.
SOURCE requested a statement from School Committee Chair Priscila Sousa and School Committee Vie Chair Jessica Barnhill, but neither responded to emails.
“Our in-house team is reviewing the most recent SOI to see if there are updates to be included, specifically our District efforts to expand early childhood opportunities, and which would possibly strengthen our application for the next round of MSBA review,” said Supt. Tremblay.
Any application to the MSBA will also need the support of the City Council and the Mayor, too.
SOURCE reached out to the Mayor’s office yesterday, but no response as of the publishing of this report.
City Council Chair Phil Ottaviani jr. said he was “very disappointed our elementary school project was not approved to move forward. Framingham desperately needs a new South side elementary school. I have confidence in the school administration that our application will be re-submitted and will be more attractive to the committee.”
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The MSBA received 54 requests from 46 different school districts for consideration in the last round of 2022 eligibility.
Less than a dozen were invited into the program.
City Council Finance Subcommittee Chair George King Jr. said “I think the challenge with the MSBA is always one of supply versus demand. It often seems multiple trips to the MSBA is something that is required to get the support. For those reasons it does not change a lot in my mind, save of course the timeline. But I think we need to try to move forward in anticipation of being ready for a positive outcome in the future.”
King is correct in the fact that the Fuller Middle school project was rejected twice by the MSBA for funding but was welcomed into the grant program in the third aplication.
“In reviewing SOIs, (Statement of Interests) the MSBA identifies the school facilities that have the greatest and most urgent need based on an assessment of the entire cohort of SOIs that are received for consideration each year,” said the MSBA to Framingham leaders.
“Based upon the MSBA’s review and due diligence process, it has been determined that the Hemenway Elementary School SOI will not be invited into the MSBA’s Eligibility Period this year. If the District would like this school to be considered for future collaboration with the MSBA, the District should file an SOI in an upcoming year. The MSBA will begin accepting SOIs for consideration in 2023 on Friday, January 13, 2023,” wrote the MSBA.
This was part of the City’s application:
Taxpayers are still paying for the construction of the new Fuller Middle school on Flagg Drive.
On Wednesday, October 31, 2018 the MSBA Board of Directors voted to approve a $39.5 million grant to build the new Fuller Middle School in the City of Framingham. This was the third application from the City.
Voters approved a debt exclusion override in December 2018 to fund the roughly $98 million school.
Groundbreaking for construction was in June 2019. The middle school opened in August of 2021.
Costs for the new elementary school will include the need to purchase the land at 77 Bethany Road as well as construction of a new school, which is expected to exceed $100 million for a K-5 school.
But two-thirds of the City’s students live below Route 9 while a majority of the elementary schools are North of Route 9. Factor in transportation problems, and the City says the need is obvious a new school should be built on the South side to replace Hemenway Elementary.
District 8 City Councilor John Stefanini lives on Bethany Road, exactly the road where a new school is proposed.
“It is not unusual for a school building project to take several times to get accepted. We need to purchase the land, design the school, and create a building committee to demonstrate to the state that equal access to education and opportunity are a priority for all Framingham kids. Southside kids spend more than two hours a day on a bus, miss out on after school activities, and four-year olds are denied access to high-quality full day pre-K,” said Councilor Stefanini.
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