August 4, 2019 by Carol Britton Meyer
School officials submitted a Statement of Interest to the Massachusetts School Building Authority for the third time last April, seeking partial state reimbursement for what they say is a much-needed major renovation -- or an entirely new building -- for Foster School.
School Building Committee Vice Chairman Raymond Estes hand-delivered the SOI to the Authority on April 11.
Last month the MSBA contacted Hingham Public Schools officials about conducting a site visit at Foster Tuesday, Sept. 10, during the school day.
"This is a working session, not a public meeting," explained HPS Director of Business and Support Services John Ferris at Wednesday night's School Building Committee meeting. "We're happy about it and it's a positive step, but this doesn't guarantee we'll be accepted into the program." However, school officials remain optimistic. The tour is expected to take about two hours.
The site visit will involve MSBA staff and architects as well as SBC members, Selectman Karen Johnson (who will be able to speak to the funding capacity of the town for such a project, as required by the MSBA), School Committee members, Ferris, Foster Principal Beth Wilcox, and others involved in the process. Town Administrator Tom Mayo has also been invited to attend.
This is an opportunity for school officials to express concerns about the building's deficiencies and their impact on the educational program as stated in the SOI.
Building tour
It's also a chance for the MSBA to tour the building and assess its condition and the size of the classrooms as related to capacity and overcrowding issues identified by school officials as well as the availability of natural light and how the building is maintained. At this time 493 students are enrolled at Foster, Wilcox said, an increase over last year.
"The MSBA will see that we do a good job maintaining the facility," Ferris said. "The floors are shiny and the building looks good."
Following the submission of the SOI, Town Meeting 2019 supported a warrant article seeking $350,000 in funding to cover extraordinary capital maintenance expenses that might occur while awaiting the MSBA's decision.
So far, about $65,000 of that amount has been spent on electrical and other work. These funds will continue to be utilized as required for the Foster School building until a permanent solution for the aging building is determined.
Ferris said there's nothing major currently or on the horizon at this time that would require additional expenditures from that fund and that some future repairs if needed could fall under the regular school operating budget.
Ferris did acknowledge, however, that while the boilers are "fine," there are some issues with the distribution system and water main. The equipment is checked regularly and some preventive work has been done in the past, he said, to help prevent any problems.
Decision due this December
The MSBA's decision on the town's third SOI is expected in December 2019.
If Foster School is invited into the program this time around, $750,000 appropriated at Town Meeting 2017 for a feasibility study but not used because the project was not accepted by the MSBA at that time would be available for the required feasibility study that would be done in partnership with the MSBA.
Any costs that would be incurred in excess of any grant approved by and received from the MSBA would be borne by the town and would require a Town Meeting vote before the project could move forward.
"If Foster isn't accepted on the third try, the School Committee will have to decide whether to [recommend that the town] move forward without state funding," Estes told the Hingham Anchor.
The cost of school building projects is increasing, according to published reports, he said. Estes further noted that one official involved with them said recently that despite the high costs of some of the recently-approved MSBA projects, "There are no Taj Mahal school projects."
Support from local legislators
Estes noted that Reps. Joan Meschino and Sen. Patrick O'Connor have expressed support for the project to the MSBA and participated in a previous MSBA tour of Foster. The School Building Committee asked Ferris to write another letter to each of them along with Rep. James Murphy, who represents part of Hingham, to keep the
Foster School SOI "fresh in their minds," Chairman Linda Hill said.
Wilcox told the Hingham Anchor after the meeting that she hopes the site visit goes well, looks forward to working with the School Building Committee, and is "hopeful for approval."Some Foster parents and teachers continue to express concerns about the condition of the building.
"I think the town is fully in support of this [as an MSBA] project," Estes said.
In a telephone conversation earlier this year, Selectman Mary Power, the board's education liaison, said Foster School remains a priority among other town projects that are also under consideration.
She further noted the Selectmen's role in putting consideration of feasibility study funding on the warrant in 2017 "so the town would be ready to go if we were invited into the program [which did not happen]. We initiated that warrant article because we believe that Foster School is an important priority and we've said so on a number of occasions," Power said at that time. "There's a lot of preparatory work we can do, and the Selectmen are firmly behind that."
Looking back
As background, in keeping with 2017 Town Meeting’s support for two warrant articles related to Foster School, a School Building Committee was created and seven members appointed.
School officials and the committee were disappointed to learn that Foster School was not selected to participate in the Massachusetts School Building Authority program last year, which was also the case in 2017.
Foster School was built in 1951, with an addition in 1957 and renovations in 1974 and 2008. The building is in need of major work or a new school in order to provide a full range of programs consistent with state and local requirements, school officials say.
After school officials submitted a Statement of Interest to the MSBA in the fall of 2017 seeking financial assistance for repairs or a new school, the MSBA informed the town in December 2017 that Foster was not chosen that time around for partial funding to address the facility deficiencies that school officials say impact the Foster community on a daily basis.
The school building committee submitted an updated statement of interest to the MSBA in the Spring of 2018 in anticipation of an MSBA announcement last December and were cautiously optimistic at the time. Once again they were disappointed. This time around they are hoping the town will be invited into the Eligibility Period.
Even if that happens, the town would not be committed to filing for an application for funding with the MSBA unless through an affirmative Town Meeting vote.
Hingham received MSBA funds for major South School and High School renovations in the 1990s and for the new Middle and East schools later on.
The next SBC meeting is Oct. 23 at 7:30 p.m. in the School Department Conference Room.