In the educational plan it unanimously approved earlier this month, the School Committee was unequivocal in expressing its belief that returning the Pollard Middle School to a Grade 6-8 configuration was the optimum choice for both educational and financial reasons. That assertion was both supported and questioned at a community meeting held Sept. 10 at the Pollard auditorium.
For more than an hour, participants discussed a multitude of project issues, some expressing strong support for including a state-of-the-art performance space in the project’s plans while others stressed the need for more consideration of the burden that the proposed more than $300 million project would place on the town’s taxpayers.
The forum was moderated by Superintendent Dan Gutekanst, who opened the meeting by showing a brief video synopsis of the years of planning done to date and why that work produced the preference for the Grade 6-8 configuration.
“The MSBA (Mass. School Building Authority) process allows Needham to consider a Pollard that would be a true middle school where students at High Rock’s sixth grade center would rejoin grade seven and eight at a new Pollard, sized to meet the space and program needs of all of Needham’s middle-school students,” Gutekanst said as the video was ending.
The project adheres to the MSBA’s highly structured framework as the town seeks the 20-25% reimbursement that the MSBA would provide if the plan satisfies its stringent requirements.
With seven options under consideration, the next step in the process will be to settle on the best one before the end of December. The options boil down to three binary choices:
- Doing the project as an addition/renovation of the current Pollard building OR doing the project as new construction
- If new construction, building a new school at the back of the current Pollard complex OR building on a portion of DeFazio Field
- Configuring the school as a 6-8 school OR maintaining a 7-8 Pollard school and keeping sixth grade at High Rock
“The School Committee believes strongly — and I, as your superintendent now beginning my 20th year — I absolutely firmly believe in a 6-8 program. I think it is best for our students. I think it’s best for our community,” Gutekanst said.
That belief was questioned by several attendees, including Meadowbrook Road resident Bill Hobbib, who claimed the school officials have not provided empirical data supporting the superiority of the 6-8 configuration.
“I’m concerned that the citizens of the town are not actually getting the full story here,” he said, adding he has read studies that support keeping sixth graders separate.
Sandy Hughes of Pinewood Road spoke against doing an addition/renovation of the current Pollard. That option is estimated to require four years of construction as opposed to the two-and-a-half year estimate for the new construction options.
“I actually live across the street and I’ve been here for 43 years,” Hughes said of her familiarity with Pollard.
“Two of my three children lived through the renovation of Pollard back in the ’80s, and it was horrendous for those kids,” she said. “So when we try to talk about a rebuild, know that it’s messy.”
Two Town Meeting members, Jane Volden of Precinct B and Joe Abruzese of Precinct D, who is also a member of the Finance Committee, said there should be more information on the impact borrowing millions of dollars will have on the town’s property tax bills.
Both Gutekanst and School Committee co-chair Alisa Skatrud agreed that costs were an important consideration; Skatrud directed attendees to the project’s website that she said is frequently updated.
“You can find information on the master plan studies that have cost estimates of lots of the different potential pathways,” Skatrud said at the conclusion of the session, noting the process needs to move at a relatively fast pace to meet deadlines and avoid incurring costs that delays can cause.
“The process feels, to some, rushed,” she said. “We are very cognizant of our timeline.”
Missing deadlines, Skatrud said, could add as much as six months to the project schedule. “Anytime you push a project of this size back six months, you are in the millions of dollars.”
The next community information event, a Pollard Open House with tours of the Pollard complex and a Q&A session, is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 4, from 9-10:30 a.m.
Save as PDF