What if we do nothing?
The high school has already been cited by NEASC (New England Association of Schools and Colleges) for overcrowding and its negative impact on the delivery of curriculum. Our school population is projected to continue to grow, and overcrowding will likely worsen in all of the schools. Without a plan to alleviate overcrowding, it is likely that the school would lose its NEASC accreditation

How was the site determined?
The Secondary School Building Committee (SSBC) looked at Town owned land and selected the property that can handle the building without requiring a construction premium that would be unreimbursed by the state. The topography of the Old Westboro Rd. site was less than ideal and would have carried close to a $14 million dollar premium for off-site work to prepare the property, with no state reimbursement. The site of the current high school allows the town’s needs to be met at a substantially lower cost.

How many children will be served by the new school and will it allow for expansion?
The new school will accommodate 900 students and there will be the ability to add 10 or so classrooms on the third floor. There will be core spaces (cafeteria, auditorium) for 1100 students. At the current high school, student capacity is 509, however, student enrollment is 681.

When will reorganization or reconfiguration of grades be implemented to ease crowding at other schools?
That is a School Committee decision. Once the new high school is open, the current high school building will be available for other use, most likely as the middle school.

How will the use of the fields be determined?
Field use determination will be done during the detailed design (DD) phase which will start after town approval. Other options for off site fields are being explored by others. The SSBC felt the school space should be dealt with first, and the fields second.

Why is it essentially the same cost for a new building as it is for an addition to the existing high school?
There’s the cost of the addition itself, the existing building would have to be updated (expensive) and the construction process for renovation would be longer by at least a year.

What is the number of additional classrooms in the new high school plans? Will the new school provide adequate space for a full curriculum (including those electives that are currently threatened by lack of space)?
The number of tradtional classrooms looks to be 27. There will be other spaces for learning, i.e. science labs, large group instruction (LGI), art, band, and Special Education that are not part of the 27.

How does the capacity in the proposed new school's cafeteria and auditorium compare with our current space?
Current cafeteria capacity: 280. Current auditorium capacity: 686 Both will be built to handle an enrollment of 1100 students.

Will we be using a school model/ canned design?
No.

If voting is approved, how quickly will construction begin and how long is it projected to take to complete?
We would like to start construction in the fall of 2010 and open in fall of 2012. Please understand that is a very aggressive schedule and a lot of things must fall into place.

How will parking be affected?
Parking will be increased to handle the addition of the school. The exact layout will be done during detailed design (DD).

Can we fill in Lake Ripple?
NO.

Why not add modulars at GHS like we are doing at GMS?
You add classroom space but not cafeteria, gym, auditorium, Special Education and space to handle all activities outside the regular classroom like art, music and the rest.

How does a new building provide a system wide solution to our space problem?
We will be adding 900 new seats to the district and not taking any existing space off line. By reconfiguration, the School Committee will be able to take advantage of the additional space.

If the middle school is overcrowded too, how can all those middle school students fit into the high school?
With the addition of school space, the school administration and school committee will examine ways to reconfigure the grades at each school. It is likely that only 2 middle school grades will go into the current high school.

Will full day kindergarten become an option after the new school is built?
With the openiung of a new high school we will have the room to run a full day kindergarten program. The decision to implement a full day K program will then be a budget decision for the school committee to make.

How will the atrium space be used?
This is the cafeteria space. The design is actually typical for schools in order to provide a space that is appealing as a gathering area.

How many students will the band space hold?
85 - 90 based on the current dimensions. Final determination of the size of all areas will take place during the detailed design phase and in consultation with teachers, staff and students.

How does the voting process work for this issue?
Once the state (Mass. State Building Authority) votes to approve the new school, the town will have a total of 120 days to complete a 2-step voting process to approve our portion of the funding. The first part of this process will consist of a special town meeting requiring a 2/3 majority vote to move forward with a ballot vote on the issue. Subsequently, a ballot vote will be held to approve a debt exclusion for the funding. The ballot vote will require a simple majority to pass. If we do not approve the school within the 120 days, we will lose our state reimbursement. We would have to start the process all over again from the very beginning.

What is a debt exclusion?
Proposition 2˝ allows a community to raise funds for certain purposes above the amount of its property tax levy limit or levy ceiling. A community can assess taxes in excess of its levy limit or levy ceiling for the payment of certain capital projects and for the payment of specified debt service costs. An exclusion for the purpose of raising funds for debt service costs is referred to as a debt exclusion, and an exclusion for the purpose of raising funds for capital project costs is referred to as a capital outlay expenditure exclusion.

 

We will be updating these questions on a regular basis. If you have a question which is not answered here, please contact us at: info@graftoneducation.org