[CabotCommunity] Fwd: New information regarding the long term facilities of Newton's Schools

[marykathf at aol.com]

To:                  Members of the Cabot Community

 

From:             Sarah Ecker and Isabelle Thacker

             Co-Chairs, Cabot PTO Political Issues Committee

 

Date:                October 24, 2007

 

We would like to inform you of some new information regarding the Long Range Facilities Plan for Newton’s Schools. As you may be aware, the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) has asked Newton to name a top priority school from among the list of three schools (Angier, Cabot and Zervas) identified by Newton earlier this year.  On Monday night (October 22, 2007), the School Committee  discussed this matter and is likely to identify Angier School as Newton’s top priority for state funding for renovation or new construction.  The School Committee will vote on this matter at its next meeting, Tuesday, November 13, 2007.  

 

>From the School Committee’s discussion, it is clear that Angier and Cabot are considered the most needy school facilities in our city and that choosing between the two schools is a close call.  Angier and Cabot are Newton’s oldest schools (Angier was built in 1919, Cabot in 1929); they have the smallest classrooms; and they have had the least amount of recent upgrades and investment. 

 

The Long Range Facilities Planning Committee considered three factors in making its recommendation for the top priority school.  The committee looked at: (1) physical condition, (2) educational space needs, and (3) current and projected student enrollment.  With regard to physical condition and educational space, Cabot and Angier both scored very poorly.  However, when looking at enrollment, the committee identified an advantage in replacing Angier first.  

 

The committee noted that a new, larger Angier School (built for 484 students) could, through redistricting, accommodate students from nearby Zervas School.  Zervas is the most overcrowded school in Newton.  If the overcrowding at Zervas is alleviated by a larger Angier School, the Zervas building could remain in use without renovations.  By contrast, the committee noted, a new building at the Cabot site (also built for 484 students) would serve only the projected growth at Cabot, without adding any additional capacity for the system as a whole.  These considerations about enrollment tipped the scale in favor of identifying Angier as a top priority.

 

For those of us who have followed the facility planning discussion for some time, the selection of Angier is not a surprise – and it is also not a disappointment.  We recognize that the conditions at both Angier and Cabot are sub-standard, and that the city has been asked by the state to start somewhere.  What is disappointing, though, is that we still do not have a master facility plan to assure us that there is a plan for Cabot, and for our other schools.  The absence of such a plan makes it difficult to deal with identifying any one school as a top priority.  

 

Newton has taken some large steps toward development of a facilities plan – the problem is that there hasn’t been much public discussion about it yet.  The architectural firm, HMFH, completed a comprehensive study assessing the condition of all our schools and recommended various options. While the study was published and made available this summer, we are still waiting for it to be presented to the community and discussed.  We understand that a public forum is being planned for early December.

 

Members of the School Committee have offered to come to Cabot to discuss this matter before their vote on November 13.  Some of the questions we’d like to discuss are:  (1) the likelihood that Cabot would be the second school identified for renovations; (2) the expected time frame for renovations; and (3) the priority of the on-going repair needs at Cabot.  Please let us know if you would like to hear more from the School Committee on this topic and whether you’d welcome the opportunity to share your views with them.

 

For a more complete discussion of the recommendation, read the Oct. 18 memo from Jeff Young:

http://www.newton.k12.ma.us/schoolcommittee/_documentsFY08/long_range_facilities_planning_10_22_07.pdf

 

 

To read the HMFH study, visit:  http://www.newton.k12.ma.us/schoolcommittee/_documentsFY07/Long_Range_Facilities_Master_Plan_Vol1.pdf

 

 

To indicate interest in a discussion at Cabot with members of the School Committee, contact: 

Mary Kathryn Fallon: marykathf at aol.com

Archana Vahalia: auvpto at aol.com

 

To send an e-mail to the School Committee, write: schoolcommittee at newton.k12.ma.us 

 








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