Over to Town Hall: Middle School Studies

Weston Today photo

Decisions about next steps for a possible Weston Middle School construction project are now in the hands of the Board of Selectmen, as on Monday evening the Board of Education voted only to send engineering reports, design concepts, cost estimates and timelines to Town Hall for consideration.

The school board’s motion did not ask the selectmen to schedule a referendum. Nor did it request authorization to apply for State reimbursement grants.

A reimbursement application submitted as late as June 30 of 2027 could still fit into a project timeline presented to the school board by Colliers Project Leaders.

On the timeline, construction could begin on either a new school or a major renovation early in 2028. This assumes 16 months of design work would commence this summer, followed by three months of bidding. It also assumes that the selectmen would advance the project to a referendum.

Which is where a complication arises.

Timing

With the annual June 30 deadline to apply for State grants, a decision to go for it this year would also make June 30 the selectmen’s deadline to schedule a referendum. In discussions so far on the Board of Education, the aim has been to ask that the referendum question be added to the November election ballot.

The complication is that the moment a referendum date is set, the question essentially becomes legally pending. As we confirmed with the State Elections Enforcement Commission, from that point on public funds or resources cannot be used to advocate for it.

Members of the school board seem fully aware that a school construction project with total costs estimated up to $127 million is a big ask.

If the question becomes legally pending at the end of June, there is little time between now and then — and none from then through Election Day — to “socialize” the project through official channels and spread the word about its justification and benefits in newsletters, meetings, workshops, public forums and the like.

Options

One option is to hold off applying for State grants until June of 2027 while still asking for inclusion on this November’s ballot.

In that case, according to the office of the Secretary of the State, the Selectmen would have until September 4 to formally set the referendum, which would buy a couple of months for advocacy through official channels. Or, a referendum could be held later, say in the spring, buying even more time.

A third choice is to push out everything yet another year, including construction, for time to ponder alternatives. Scott Pellman of Colliers Project Leaders reminded the school board that delay has a price: construction costs that escalate about 4½ percent each year, swelling by $5 million or so in the first extra year alone.

A fourth choice is to do nothing. Or, more realistically, to fix what’s broken piece by piece over the course of several years with annual capital expenditures.

Accumulating issues

At Monday’s meeting, school district Finance Director Phil Cross acknowledged that a repair-and-replace scheme could be cheaper than construction, but by no means inexpensive.

Mr. Cross said estimates back in 2019 showed $31.5 million needed to address WMS problems known at that time. Since then, he said, if those problems were addressed today, costs have escalated so much that the bill would come to $51 million, an amount that would grow by about $2.5 million annually.

The $51 million, said Mr. Cross, doesn’t include newly identified problems, such as a plumbing issue discovered in 2025. Nor does it include future system and mechanical failures.

Mr. Cross also noted that none of those costs would be eligible for State reimbursement.

Meanwhile, the Board of Finance has reconvened its Debt Capacity Subcommittee to refresh an analysis of the impact major capital expenditures would have on the town’s fiscal health and taxes.