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AC–2015ATM PPROPRIATIONOMMITTEE At the June 16, 2014 Special Town Meeting, the following appropriations were approved: $220,000 to purchase a land-locked parcel behind 430 Concord Ave. for conservation purposes. $250,000 to revise and expand the School Master Plan, in response to current enrollment issues in the Lexington Public School system. $500,000 to supplement the renovation of the Community Center, expected to open in May 2015. March 23, 2015 Special Town Meeting #1 and #2 Two Special Town Meetings have been scheduled concurrently with the 2015 Annual Town Meeting. The Committee has already published a report covering the Articles in these Special Town Meetings. The Warrant for the first Special Town Meeting contains a single request for an appropriation of $4.08 million to fund initial work on a collection of school capital projects with a preliminary estimated cost of $111.5 million. As participants in the development of this request, the Committee maintained a liaison with the Ad hoc School Master Planning Committee, participated in deliberations during joint meetings of the Budget Summit, and worked independently with the chairs of the Board of Selectmen, the School Committee, and the Capital Expenditures Committee to forge a consensus position on the plan to add capacity and flexibility to the Town’s public school system (see School Master Plan, below). The Warrant for the second Special Town Meeting comprises five requests for capital projects that re- quire prompt action by the Town prior to the end of FY2015. The total of the requested appropriations on the Warrant for Special Town Meeting #2 is $1.83 million, but funding for most of the projects comes from the Wastewater Enterprise Fund, CPA Fund, and a legal settlement. A request for $350,000 to com- plete the High School Modulars Phase 2 will be funded from the General Fund. School Master Plan The Town has seen persistent growth in school enrollment since 2010, contrary to the predictions derived using industry-standard enrollment models. The fundamental change likely began as early as 2007 when annual enrollments began to level out instead of slowly falling as predicted. The School Department has indicated that the Town must expand its school facilities to address widespread overcrowding in the ele- mentary schools, and to limit the number of out-of-district placements that will be required due to inade- quate facilities in Town. As students advance in years, the crowding in the six elementary schools is ex- pected to carry forward into the two middle schools and then the high school. After the June 16, 2014 Special Town Meeting, the Town formed the Ad hoc School Master Planning Committee. That committee hired Symmes, Maini & McKee Associates (SMMA) to determine the base- line capacities for existing buildings, and to research a variety of alternatives for expanding the capacity of the school system. SMMA had to contend with a number of complex factors: Existing overcrowding in five out of six elementary schools Student population distribution strongly biased towards the eastern side of the Town An elementary school building with significant and long-standing problems (Hastings) Wide variation in predictions for enrollment growth Proper timing as enrollment growth advance to higher grades Particular needs of special education programs at each school Lack of readily available swing space A dearth of land suitable for certain kinds of construction at several locations The results are described in the final report from the AhSMPC, and further refined in the School Building Project Consensus Plan published by the Board of Selectmen. The Committee supports this consensus. We are at the start of a multi-year endeavor to address the enrollment problems with a series of construc- tion projects. We expect the projects to include pre-fabricated modular classrooms, brick and mortar addi- tions, and the construction of an entirely new elementary school. 3