PEABODY — The city plans to file statements of interest for four school projects this year after the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) rejected placing Veterans Memorial High School and Center Elementary School into the MSBA’s current eligibility period.
“Our statements of interest were not invited in, but we will definitely apply again and also apply for West and South schools and hope to be invited this year,” said School Committee Chairman Beverley Griffin Dunne. “We will definitely be ready for the next round and know that it is a process that can take multiple attempts before being accepted into the building program. I say this all the time, that you can’t win the lottery if you don’t buy the tickets, so that’s what we are doing.”
The MSBA’s rejection letter sent to Mayor Edward Bettencourt last month stated:
“MSBA received 61 statements of interest from 51 different school districts for consideration in 2019 … based upon the MSBA’s review and due diligence process, it has been determined that the Center Elementary School and the Peabody Veterans Memorial High School SOIs will not be invited into the MSBA’s Eligibility Period at this time. If the District would like these schools to be considered for future collaboration with the MSBA, the District should file an SOI in an upcoming year.”
Dunne said the goal is to get the high school and Center School accepted into the MSBA Core program to redress certain deficiencies in both schools. The deadline for filing the SOIs is April 8.
Dunne said the biggest needs at the high school include inadequate heat and air flow and inadequate science labs space. There is a myriad of areas of need at the Center School, including leaky roof and the lack of dedicated space for a library (currently located in a classroom), gymnasium and cafeteria.
“These buildings were built in a different time with different needs and they do not meet the needs of the 21st century,” said Dunne. “Center School is filled to the brim, the gym, or as I like to call it the cafe-gym-torium isn’t even large enough for basketball. The classroom space is inadequate and old and some rooms hardly have any outlets. In spite of these deficient buildings, I marvel at what we are doing. The high school list just goes on and on and on.”
The city also plans to file statements of interest for the West and South schools to upgrade and/or replace the existing roofs.
“We plan to apply for the Accelerated Repair program for those two schools as the age of both roofs is of concern,” said Dunne. “This will be a very targeted specific repair project.”
The Accelerated Repair program’s deadline is Friday, Feb. 14.
It is not uncommon for districts to have to submit multiple statements of interest for the same project.
The Welch School project took five tries extended over a five-year period from 2014-1019. That project has been placed on the Core track and there is debate about the fact that some believe work is needed this summer, especially with frosted windows and air conditioning and heat. Last fall, the city council approved an expenditure of $1.2 million for a feasibility study for the school, which was built in 1972.
The Welch School Building Committee is expected to meet Tuesday morning to authorize a public request for services for an Owner’s Project Manager.
“It will be published in the Central Register on Jan. 29 and hopefully the potential OPMs will apply and then we will conduct interviews,” said Dunne. “This whole process with all of our schools is a good process as the MSBA gives us so much assistance. It’s really designed to give us an excellent product at the end. It’s just too bad that they only have so much money to give with 351 districts. They do all they possibly can to maximize their grants.”