Making Democracy Work
Information about the proposed new high school
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CCHS BUILDING PROJECT LOCAL PRIORITY ISSUE Education is a high priority issue for the league. Currently there is a proposed new building project for the high school which will be presented to both towns first at Special Town Meetings in early November and then at the ballot box in mid-November. In order for the project to move forward the plan has to pass the two votes in both towns - town meeting vote and ballot vote.
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BACKGROUND The current building was constructed in the 60s and 70s when the baby boom generation was overwhelming school districts across the nation. Schools with a life expectancy of 50 years were built very quickly in a style more suitable for the warm climates of the west coast. The current high school is energy inefficient, technologically insufficient and has systems that are outdated. Renovations in the 90s addressed some issues but major maintenance projects, such as roof replacement, have since been deferred in anticipation of a new school building project. It has been estimated that it would take $70 million dollars to bring the current building up to current code requirements and would not receive any MSBA reimbursement. Since 2002, Concord has replaced two elementary schools and done a major addition and renovation to a third. Carlisle is currently doing a major addition and renovation to its k-8 school.
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The new CCHS building project plan is to replace the current school with a new building at a cost to the communities of $64.5 million after a 35% reimbursement of $28 million from the state. Based on the current assessment ratio, Concord would be responsible for $47.1 million and Carlisle $17.4 million.
The new building is designed to meet the educational and community needs with energy and environmental elements for long term sustainability.
The new building will be sited to take advantage of day lighting and will be solar ready (an additional $800,000 would be needed to install photovoltaic panels on the roof). The construction will use high performance operable windows and a high performance building envelope consisting of four floors instead of the current sprawling building. The landscaping incorporates environmentally green elements such as bike paths and rain gardens. The mechanical systems feature high-efficiency measures for energy efficiency and increased air quality.