2018-06-27-CEC-ATM-rpt (Combined Report with Updates & Errata)

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CAPITAL EXPENDITURES COMMITTEE REPORT TO 2018 ATM(incorporating Updates&Errata) Schools Overview The Lexington Public Schools (LPS) provide educational, athletic, and club activities for students in grades Pre-Kindergarten-12. This is the enrollment for the current and the four previous academic years: Enrollment in Lexington Public Schoolst Academic Year Grades 2013/2014 2014/2015 2015/2016 2016/2017 2017/2018 Pre-Kindergarten(Pre-K) 52 52 76 78 71 Kindergarten(K)-5 2,925 3,024 3,054 3,066 3,150 Middle Schools(6-8) 1,657 1,616 1,646 1,743 1,813 High School (9-12) 2,002 2,094 2,166 2,185 2,212 Totals 6,636 6,786 6,942 7,072 7,246 tEnrollment figures are those as of October 1st as required by the State's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE)for each academic year. LPS currently owns and operates six elementary-school buildings, two middle-school buildings, and the high-school complex of four, freestanding, academic buildings and a field house. Central Office ("Administration") personnel and services are located in what had been the old Harrington School. The Pre-K program is primarily located in the new Harrington school building, but has outgrown that space and uses two additional classrooms on the lower level of the old Harrington building. In addition, the old Harrington houses elements of the Lexington, Arlington, Burlington, Bedford, Belmont (LABBB) Collaborative. The maintenance of these fourteen buildings is overseen by the DPF. Perhaps the most important capital issue facing LPS is that the school system has an enrollment in Pre-K through high school that is over the system's capacity, so the increasing enrollment presents a growing pressure on the schools from a building-capacity perspective. The LPS enrollment forecasts continue to call for strong growth into the foreseeable future. Additional space is currently needed at the Pre-K and elementary-school levels to accommodate this growing enrollment. Addressing these needs includes building a new Lexington Children's Place preschool on the 20 Pelham Rd property (see Article 12), and replacing the Maria Hastings Elementary School (with funding assistance from the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA)). The new LCP is expected to be ready for the 2019-2020 school year and Hastings is expect to be ready for the 2020-2021 school year. Authorization for the town to issue debt for these two projects was approved by the voters at a debt-exclusion referendum on December 4, 2017. The renovation or replacement of the High School is contemplated near the end of the current 5-Year Capital Plan. • Pre-K: The current plan is to build a new school at 20 Pelham Road for a total project cost of approximately $15.1 million. The school capacity for the preschool program is measured in "slots", where two slots is a full day. Depending on specific needs a student may attend morning only or afternoon only (one slot each) or may attend a full day (two slots). The October 1, 2017, enrollment of 71 students required the use of 87 slots. As children reach the age of two years and nine months they become eligible for the program, so typically the enrollment rises throughout the year. Also individual student needs are better understood the number of slots used can change. The current (February 5, 2018) enrollment of 75 students requires 101 slots. The number of special-education children needing a full-day placement versus a half-day placement has been rising which has added significantly to the pressing need for additional Pre-K classrooms. The new preschool will have a capacity for 187 slots. An important additional benefit for relocating the preschool to the 20 Pelham Road site is that four classroom spaces in Harrington will become available for the K-5 program. Given the current and expected continued overcrowding in the K-5 program, this additional space will be very beneficial. This will also reduce the traffic congestion on the Harrington site and improves the flexibly for future site uses. (See Article 12.) 31