HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-09-28-SBC-minSeptember 28, 2022
School Building Committee
LPS Central Office, School Committee Conference Room
The minutes were taken by Maureen Kavanaugh
1. Introductions
• James Malloy, Interim Chair, Town Manager (present - virtual)
• Joseph N. Pato, Select Board (present - virtual)
• Julie Hackett, Superintendent of Schools (present - in person)
• Kathleen M. Lenihan, School Committee (present - in person)
• Mark Barrett, Public Facilities Project Manager (present - virtual)
• Charles Favazzo Jr., Permanent Building Committee(present - virtual)
• Jonathan A. Himmel, Permanent Building Committee Chair (virtual - in person)
• Andrew Stephens, Lexington High School Principal (present - in person)
• Carolyn Kosnoff, Finance Assistant Town Manager (present - virtual)
• Michael Cronin, Facilities Director (present - in person)
• Hsing Min Sha, Community Representative (present - in person)
• Kseniya Slaysky, Community Representative (present - in person)
• Charles W. Lamb, Capital Expenditures Committee (present - virtual)
• Alan Mayer Levine, Appropriation Committee (present - in person)
• Dan Voss, Sustainable Lexington Committee
2. Organization of the Committee
• Questions about Chair and Vice Chair? Do we need them both? When we bring
on the OPM, this entity will essentially act as Chair and the selected chair will act
as vice chair. Committee ultimately selected to have a Chair and Vice Chair
• What does the chair and vice chair do? There is a very prescribed process for
the MSBA. The Chair needs to know how we are addressing the deliverables and
setting agendas for the School Building Committee. When the OPM comes on
board, this person would take the lead on this work.
3. Elect Chairperson of SBC
• Agreement that it would be better to have it be someone with a direct connection
to the public schools (i.e. someone close to the work and have a sense of what is
going on a daily basis
• Dr. Hackett made a motion to appoint Kathleen Lenihan as Chair of the School
Building Committee. Hsing Min Sha seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
• Dr. Hackett made a motion to appoint Michael Cronin as the Vice Chair of the
School Building Committee. Andrew Stephens seconded. The motion passed
unanimously.
Approved on November 14, 2023
4. How did we get here?
A review of the Master Planning Committee's efforts
• Master Planning materials currently posted to the district website (see also LPS
Technical Master Plan and c ompendium). This group found that while enrollment
growth had slowed at the elementary level, growth had shifted to the high school
level. This new high school enrollment put more pressure on a building that was
already overcapacity. After much analysis and in light of current and projected
LHS enrollments being substantially higher than a reasonable estimate of the
school's capacity and the age and condition of the facility, the Master Planning
Advisory Committee strongly endorsed the plan to increase the size of the high
school facility by replacing it with a new building or by completing a
comprehensive renovation with additions.
• At the same time, there was also ongoing planning to make the most of existing
space (e.g. converting storage to office space and office space to classrooms)
and making reasonable additions (e.g. modulars). This work included a space
utilization study that found a very high rate of use for nearly all of the existing
spaces.
• This space crunch has affected how we design the high school schedule. While
freshman and sophomores are scheduled fully, we do not have studies for Junior
and Seniors. We do not have the space in the building to have all students from
all four grades in the building at the same time.
• Cafeteria and lunch is another particular pinch point. We use the field house,
hallways and outdoor space in the quad for lunch to supplement the current
cafeteria space.
• Its age also presents challenges. Learning spaces, including science labs, are
smaller than current standards. Our current approaches to special education and
inclusion were not a consideration when the building was originally built.
• There is not much more we can do with the building.
• During this process, LPS and DPF have been and will continue to be mindful of
making unnecessary or unwise investments in the existing building while we
were considering longer term remedies.
• Addressing the building maintenance, during the project? Work of SBC or
another group? This will be the work of the Master Facilities Planning Committee.
We will continue our current maintenance plan. Given the age of the facilities, we
will likely experience more utility failures (e.g. last winter heating failure in the
modular classrooms). Last spring, TMMA voted to set aside a budget for
emergency repairs that would go beyond this normal maintenance.
Approved on November 14, 2023
Submission of Statement of Interest
• Submitted the Statement of Interest to MSBA three times. With the third
application, we were invited into the eligibility phase. This phase is focused on
proving that we're ready to execute a project of this scale.
• MSBA is a partner and will give us prescribed work to do. They generally will not
attend these meetings (but may on occasion).
• Tasks that have already been completed: Information about our educational
programming and enrollment. Also TMMA voted to fund the feasibility study last
spring at the annual town meeting.
• MSBA would cover about 25-26% of the cost of the project. We're very fortunate
to receive this support.
• Next we will meet with MSBA to review enrollment information that has been
submitted (September 29, 2022). In the following months, MSBA will vote to
determine whether we would proceed to the next phase (year long feasibility
study).
5. Article 97 Update
• The current LHS facility sits on and is next to land under Article 97 protection.
Any construction that takes place on land under Article 97 protection (i.e. land
designated for recreation) needs to be replaced with an equal size parcel of land.
Town Manager, DWP and LPS has reviewed the current site and adjacent land
and believe this will be possible
• Construction would likely take place on the east side of the Vinebrook. The land
to the west of the Vinebrook would temporarily be used as a staging area. The
specifics will depend on the actual footprint
• We have a survey that identifies all the parcels under Article 97 protection. Is this
study available? The Town Manager is happy to share this with the SBC.
6. Where are we in the MSBA process?
• Module 1: Eli ibili Period: According to MSBA, the goal of this phase is to
identify "early in the process whether a District is ready to manage and fund a
capital project. It will help to determine a District's financial and community
readiness to enter the capital pipeline. It will also assist Districts locally by
providing a definitive schedule and identifying needs for planning and budgeting."
• Community members and committee members can see the MSBA website for an
overview of the whole process along with other information.
7. New LHS Capital Planning Website
• Will be launched soon. This is the best place to get accurate information.
Approved on November 14, 2023
• How does the public interact with this committee? How does this committee
respond back? We should have a unified communication strategy.
o If a committee member receives questions or requests for information, this
can be brought back to the committee.
o Frequent/commonly requested info should be posted to the website.
o Next step: reviewing MSBA process and determining where and when
there are opportunities for feedback and be clear that members of the
community are aware of these.
Future meetings? Chair will reach out to group about future scheduling
Hsing Min Sha motioned to adjourn at 4:31 p.m. Dr. Hackett seconded the motion.
Approved on November 14, 2023