After six years of discussion, Wellesley is about to decide among no fewer than six options for creating a new Wellesley High that could cost upward of $150 million.
"We really want to make headway on the refinement of the options," said Katherine Babson, chairwoman of the town's School Building Committee, in an e-mail she sent last week to interested parties. Her group is charged with proposing a final option.
Babson has called a meeting for Nov. 28 - the same day the Massachusetts School Building Authority is expected to announce whether Wellesley will advance to the next round of consideration for state financial help in addressing the high school building's deterioration. Special Town Meeting recently approved purchasing three residential lots on Seaver Street, at the rear of the high school property, for use in the project.
The new school is predicted to be the largest, costliest building project in the history of a town that has already asked voters to raise property taxes, by either a debt-exclusion or operating override of Proposition 2 1/2, every year for the past 10.
At a recent School Building Committee meeting, member Tom Goemaat, a contractor for educational institutions throughout New England, said a new building would likely cost less time and money than renovating and expanding the existing building.
Goemaat said a new building of about 318,000 square feet would cost between $136 million and $147 million and take between 42 and 45 months to complete. A renovation and addition, he said, would cost between $140 million and $152 million and take between 60 and 63 months.
Yet to be factored in, said Goemaat, are the costs of using modular classrooms to accommodate the school's growing population while the project is underway or using the football field as a construction staging area.
Goemaat's numbers also don't include "how far above" Wellesley wants to go in relation to standards set for a school building to be considered "high performance." The design concept - promoted by a national organization, the Collaborative of High Performance Schools - is a building that is energy-efficient, well lighted, and a pleasant learning environment.
According to the CHPS organization, "A growing number of studies are confirming the relationship between a school's physical condition, especially its lighting and indoor-air quality, and student performance." Other studies have indicated that such environmentally friendly buildings have witnessed improvements in student attendance and teacher retention as well as in lowered operational costs.
These and other issues - including such contentious matters as whether part or all of the original 1938 building might be retained, how much the design should accommodate student parking, and how the student population should be situated in relation to administrative personnel - must still be determined.
Many of these issues will be discussed at the Nov. 28 meeting, slated for 7:30 p.m. in Town Hall. Representatives of various constituent groups - parents, school administrators, preservationists, recreation officials, and others - will discuss preliminary sketches of six options, four involving new buildings and two renovating and expanding the current building. The options under consideration, as well as related documents, can be viewed on the town's website, ci.wellesley.ma.us, by clicking on the School Building Committee link at the bottom of the page.
