IT'S NO accident that four of the five projects approved last week by the state School Building Authority involve renovations rather than new construction. Districts unable to contain the impulse to spend lavishly will not find a willing partner in the School Building Authority, the quasi-public state agency that manages costs and reimburses cities and towns for a portion of their school building expenses.
In Newton, residents are bitterly divided over the cost of building a new high school now pegged at almost $200 million. What started as a renovation project now looks like a white elephant to Newton's more frugal residents. The project predates both the creation of the authority in 2004 and the lengthy moratorium on new school building assistance that followed.
If Newton is a reminder of the profligate days, then the town of Maynard represents the current thinking on how best to provide a sound education in a safe and decent environment.
Maynard High School clearly needs help. In 2006, an accreditation agency put the school on probation, citing poor heating and ventilation, inadequate library and science facilities, and many additional flaws. A town advisory committee recommended the construction of a new high school at a cost of $47 million. But the School Building Authority wouldn't bite.
Ideally, the 324 students at Maynard High School could be absorbed into one of the surrounding school districts. Yet Concord-Carlisle, Lincoln-Sudbury, Acton-Boxborough and others have ignored or rejected such requests, according to school superintendent Mark Masterson. No one can force towns to regionalize. But the authority is offering an extra 3 percent reimbursement for those who do. And then there are sticks.
"How can Concord ask for a new high school when they refuse even to have discussions with Maynard?" asks Katherine Craven, executive director of the School Building Authority.
Craven must also fight perceptions that the authority won't reimburse towns that opt for renovations instead of new construction. One option in Maynard is to give the high school a $12 million facelift. But an architectural adviser has told the town that it would likely have to forego state reimbursement. "That's a myth," says Craven. Another good option for Maynard, she says, might be to expand the site of the current middle school to accommodate high school students.
The state plans to invest about $2.5 billion in school building assistance over the next five years. But it wisely won't be entertaining applications for any more boondoggles.
