EASTHAMPTON — Confronting outdated and inefficient facilities, officials are pressing ahead with plans to combine the city’s three elementary schools and the middle school into one building for children from pre-kindergarten to Grade 8.
Superintendent Nancy Follansbee said the School Building Committee is still in a process of designing the facility and must look into possible building options before moving forward with obtaining state funding through the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA).
The School Building Committee plans to house Maple Elementary School, Center Elementary School and Pepin Elementary School at the site of White Brook Middle School, 200 Park St.
The architectural firm Caolo & Bieniek will look into possible designs on the site, including renovating and updating the 43-year-old building to make room for the younger grades, or tearing it down to construct a completely new building.
Follansbee said the building committee will determine which design is the most cost-effective and educationally beneficial option before the project moves forward.
“We’re still researching what would be the best model to put forth to MSBA,” Follansbee said.
The next School Building Committee meeting is 5 p.m. Tuesday at the Municipal Building’s second-floor conference room in which the committee will discuss updates in the project.
Throughout the process, Follansbee said, there will be public forums to inform the community and discuss the project. The next forum is scheduled for 7 p.m. Feb. 28 in the meeting space of the Easthampton Municipal Building, 50 Payson Ave.
The idea of building a pre-K-8 facility has been in the works for over two years, according to Follansbee. In March 2015, the MSBA approved eligibility for state funding for a new building or renovation project. The school district formed a School Building Committee as required to receive funding.
In June 2015, the City Council voted to borrow $1 million to pay for costs of a feasibility study of Maple Elementary School, a requirement for state funding for new school construction through the MSBA. In June 2016, Caolo & Bieniek was selected to draft designs that covered renovations of Maple Elementary School, consolidation of pre-kindergarten through Grade 4, and consolidations of pre-kindergarten through Grade 8.
From the various alternatives in Caolo & Bieniek’s feasibility study, the School Building Committee and MSBA decided to pursue the option of a pre-K-8 consolidation. This would house 1,010 students from Center, Maple, Pepin elementary schools as well as White Brook Middle School under one roof.
The study states the proposed configuration “will best help us to meet our strategic goals of providing equity and excellence, nurturing a successful community of learners, and effectively using data to drive programming and decision making.”
The project timeline anticipates that construction could begin as early as 2019, and be complete in August 2020.
According to the study, the city of Easthampton acknowledges its responsibility to pay a minimum of 42.26 percent the total project costs.
Many of the problems with the current buildings are because the elementary facilities are each at least a century old.
Maple Elementary School was constructed in 1896, with an addition constructed in 1924. Center Elementary was built in 1902 and Pepin, originally a high school, was built in 1912.
“Beyond an environment reflecting 100 years of wear and tear, major concerns include classrooms which are observed to be undersized per current MSBA standards, lack of outdoor learning space, limited parking, inefficient energy consumption/management and infrastructures not designed to support modern-day technologies,” according to the study.
By consolidating the schools, the study states, resources can be shared, which will improve the quality of resources available for all grade levels as well as potential savings in cost of transportation, maintenance and food service. Full handicap access to school spaces and amenities will be available to all elementary and middle school students.
Pre-kindergarten students will be remain in the same school rather than transition. Currently, Maple Elementary is the only public school in Easthampton that offers pre-kindergarten.
“There are already many parents and community members who have expressed support of a potential PK-8 model, recognizing that the advantages of this model far outweigh the disadvantages of having our students remain in our outdated elementary and middle schools,” the study states.
Caitlin Ashworth can be reached at cashworth@gazettenet.com.