Regionalized school would cost Holbrook, study finds
Abington option raises spending
The town of Holbrook would have to spend hundreds of thousands of additional dollars each year to regionalize its high school with Abington, while Abington would save about $676,000 annually, according to a new report.
Holbrook would spend $365,000 more per year, plus an assessment to contribute to the debt on Abington High School, according to the analysis conducted for Holbrook by the Abrahams Group of Framingham.
That figure does not include the cost of rehabilitating Holbrook Junior-Senior High School for junior high students, who would not be part of regionalization. The building’s condition has received the lowest possible rating from the Massachusetts School Building Authority.
The authority asked Holbrook to study regionalization before it tried to proceed with a building project. Then, on Jan. 25, the authority voted to advance projects in Holbrook and 14 other communities. It placed them into a newly created stage in the approval process, called the “eligibility period.’’ The move starts the clock running on a 270-day timeline in which communities must secure local funding for a construction feasibility study, among other requirements.
Although Holbrook school officials now favor a complex for kindergarten through Grade 12, the project under consideration by the state covers grades 7 through 12. The district could raise the possibility of a K-12 complex during the feasibility study, said Joseph Baeta, superintendent of schools.
“That’s exactly what we needed in order to move forward,’’ he said.
Baeta said the district has $425,000 left from a previous Town Meeting appropriation of $450,000 that could go toward the study; he is working to determine how much more the district will need, and plans to seek any necessary funds at a Special Town Meeting in the spring.
According to the Abrahams report, if the town does not move forward with new construction, capital improvements at the existing school buildings - including two elementary schools - would reach $17 million plus interest, for a total of about $23 million.
After reading the draft, School Committee chairwoman Barbara Davis said operating the junior-senior high for just grades 7 and 8 is not practical, and the elementary schools do not have room for those students. Given that Town Meeting voted in the fall against forming a regionalization planning committee, she said, she favors building a new complex for kindergarten through Grade 12.
“I feel that it’s the best solution,’’ she said. “By having everyone on the same campus, you can more easily share staff.’’
Baeta agreed, saying he plans to recommend that the Permanent School Building Committee accept the report, submit it to the Massachusetts School Building Authority, and request that the agency consider approving a K-12 complex for Holbrook.
Although no other district in Massachusetts has one school complex for all grades, he said, the model works in other states, particularly for districts with fewer than 1,200 students. State records show Holbrook had 1,187 students last year.
Baeta said he is tired of the building committee spending time studying alternatives he considers outside its purview, such as regionalization and paying tuition to send students to another district. The draft report analyzed the cost of each option - regionalization, tuitioning, and a K-12 complex.
“It’s pretty clear that Holbrook has now spent another $20,000 on yet another report,’’ he said. “It’s getting a little tiring and frustrating.’’
Building committee chairman Dan Moriarty could not be reached for comment, but Davis, a member of the committee, said the panel plans to discuss the report today.
The report indicates that paying tuition to send students in grades 9 through 12 to Abington would cost about $816,000, not including transportation.
It estimates the construction price of a new K-12 complex at almost $64 million, of which Holbrook would pay $22 million to $28 million, depending on how much reimbursement it could secure from the state. With interest, the amount would be $31 million to $38 million.
As in Holbrook, Abington Town Meeting has voted against establishing a regionalization planning committee.
Peter Schafer, superintendent of schools in Abington, had not seen the report but said the projected regionalization savings for Abington represents “a lot of dollars, if that’s true.’’
Schafer has previously said the benefits to Abington weren’t clear. But after hearing about the report, he said that if it’s what Abington wants, and it helps students, he is willing. “If Abington wants to regionalize with Canada and it’s good for kids, we’ll do it,’’ he said.
Jennette Barnes can be reached at jennettebarnes@yahoo.com. 
