HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997-09-17 ad Hoc School Building Committee MinutesSCHOOL BUILDING COMMITTEE MEETING
SEPT---- 17 t 19 7
REGULAR SESSION
Chair R. Graham called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m. Present
were members of the School Building Committee meeting,
Superintendent Harutunian, Associate Superintendent Richards,
building principals and administrators.
Chair Graham advised the Committee that Ms. D'Antona will step
down as the School Committee Representative to the School
Building Committee effective one day after the open house to.be
held at Parker Middle School, tentative date for open house is
November 1.
Chair Graham advised the Committee that the School Building
Committee representative to the School Size and Enrollment
Committee wi-1 be Richard Sanstad.
. Harutunian spoke to the Committee about the serious concerns
Dr
over enrollment. He stated that the principals were present to
help confirm the numbers for the Committee. Also, Dick Desalt
from the New England School Development Committee (NESDEC) and
Roger Hoit and Gene Raymond from Strekalovsky,& Hoit Architects
would be making a presentation to the Committee tonight.
Mr. Desalt distributed historical enrollments by grade and grade
combinations and enrollment projections by grade and grade
combinations. Mr. Desalt advised the Committee that NESDEC used
the Modified Cohort Survival System and looks into building
permits, house sales, births, historically over the past 8-10
years, enrollments, historically over the last 8-10 years and in
and out migration in the community. ,Mr. Desalt also advised the
Committee that NESDEC obtains birth records from the State
Department of Public Health rather than Town Clerk because
numbers from State are usually higher than Town Clerk numbers.
Mr. Desalt discussed the projections with the Committee and
stated that Reading is seeing a steady growth and that NESDEC is
confident that the numbers presented are both conservative and
accurate.
I
REGULAR SESSION 2- SEPTEMBER 17, 1997
Dr. Harutunian advised that he had contacted Town Clerk this
morning for birth rate for 1997 and advised that as of September
1, the birth rate is slightly higher than the 1996 rate.
Mr. Delaney stated that projections done three years prior
differed by six from NESDEC numbers and suggested that numbers
may actually be larger than we think.
P, Ensminger discussed his previous projections with the
Committee. Mr. Ensminger advised the Committee that in his
opinion there was no reason to doubt the projection numbers
presented by NESDEC.
Chairman Graham asked Dr. Harutunian what he expected from the
School Size and Enrollment Committee.
Dr. Harutunian advised that he expected the Committee to, given
the financial constraints, come back with two or three
recommendations with a list of pros and cons. The
recommendations will be submitted to the School Committee for
review. It is conceivable the Committee could come back with a
recommendation that does not require new building but will
require grade reconfiguration.
Chairman Graham noted that there is a large plate of problems,
Committee can come in with any recommendations. School Committee
needs to make priorities. Mr. Graham stated that the School
Committee needs to move fast if this issue will be brought before
Town Meeting.
Dr. Harutunian asked that the Architectural firm of Strekalovsky
& Hoit make their presentation at this time.
Chair Graham asked if the School Committee, which funded this
study, would be comfortable with the Building Committee hearing
.from the architects before them. Mr. Graham questioned whether
this presentation should be at a joint committee meeting.
Ms. D'Antona stated thatthe School Committee should have all
information including input from the School Building Committee
for their meeting on Monday.
Chair Graham stated he would hate to see the architect come up
with a plan for Coolidge and have the Space and Enrollment
Committee come up with another recommendation. Mr. Graham again
stated that Town Meeting would need to have all information
before making a decision.
S
REGULAR SESSION -3- SEPTEMBER 17, 1997
Roger Ho-it and Gene Raymond from Strekalovsky & Hoit advised the
Committee that they had been hired to look at Coolidge. Over the
past 10 years that have completed approximately 30 projects in
similar towns in similar situations. The first task was to
determine a realistic capacity for Coolidge. The capacity figure
arrived at was between 350-400, currently there are 450 students
at Coolidge. After coming up with realistic capacity, they
looked at NESDEC numbers. The numbers from NESDEC indicate
Coolidge must fit 550-650 in the future. Taking into account the
current square footage at Coolidge and the condition of the
existing structure, they are recommending a 25,000-30,000 square
foot addition to bring the building up to the 21st century. Need
approximately $8 to $10 million in renovations and additions to
meet enrollment capacity and provide a similar environment to
Parker. They indicated that 1998 is an excellent time to get the
project into the State pipeline and funded in the next 2-4 years,
especially since project would be rated a Category I, due to
enrollment problem. They estimate that they can have full
documentation including planning options, cost data and most
efficient and effective way to proceed within the next two to
three weeks.
Mr. Doherty asked when the deadline would be to submit for
funding.
Mr. Raymond advised February 1998 would give just enough time to
meet SBA requirement for June 1st.
Chairman Graham asked if any School Building Committee member had
any problem with NESDEC's numbers. No disagreement was stated.
Chair Graham stated that the perhaps should report problems to
November Town Meeting and make them aware of the problems the
schools are facing. When receive recommendations from School
Space Size and Enrollment Committee may want to consider the
option of special Town Meeting in January. Town meeting has
always been very supportive of the schools.
Dr. Harutunian agreed that Town Meeting has always supported the
schools. He also stated that if we don't do something this year,
will have to look at temporary solutions to enrollment problem.
Chair Graham advised that the School Building Committee would not
need to meet with the School Committee on Monday but would meet
with them on Wednesday.
The discussion on projected enrollments ended at 9:20