By BRIDGET TURCOTTE
SAUGUS — The Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) Board of Directors voted to approve a grant of up to $63.8 million for a project to construct a new combination middle-high school in Saugus Wednesday.
“This was their final stamp of approval to move forward with the project,” said School Committee member Jeannie Meredith. “We‘re ahead of the game. We already have the support of the town and now we have the support of the MSBA.”
Last week, voters agreed to a debt exclusion to fund the town’s share of the project costs. More than 4,900 residents, about 25 percent of registered voters, visited the polls to vote on two questions. More than twice as many people supported each question than those who voted against them.
The first requested $160 million for a proposed grades 6-12 combination middle and high school, and the second sought support for a $25 million district-wide master plan that would restructure the district to include an upper elementary school for grades 3-5 at the existing Belmonte Middle School and a lower elementary school for Pre-K through grade 2 at the Veterans Memorial Elementary School.
The master plan is a town project and is not being pursued through the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA). The town’s share of the total project would be an estimated $118 million, bonded over a 30-year period.
The MSBA announced Wednesday the agency will reimburse the town 57.7 percent of eligible approved project costs for the middle-high school, said Meredith.
When residents voted, they were guaranteed only a 53 percent reimbursement rate. The town completed several initiatives to gain points, which translated into a higher rate, said Meredith.
“Upon completion, this project will provide a new 21st century learning environment for Elementary School students in Saugus,” said State Treasurer Deborah B. Goldberg, chair of the MSBA, in a statement. “Our goal is to create the best space to deliver the District’s educational commitments and goals.”
The district and the MSBA are expected to next enter into a Project Funding Agreement, which will detail the project’s scope and budget, along with the conditions under which the district will receive its MSBA grant.
The proposed project will create a new 269,000-square-foot facility to replace the current building, which was built in 1954 and has seen several renovations since.
“We have been ahead of the game all along,” said Meredith. “If we stuck to our original timeline, we would have just been going out to meet with the community and do community outreach before the vote. But we have been meeting with the community all along. The community came out and spoke — the kids are the future and Saugus is going to be put back on the map.”
Bridget Turcotte can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @BridgetTurcotte.