SOUTH HADLEY — Residents got their first glimpse Thursday night of seven different construction and renovation options for the Mosier Elementary School building project, with costs ranging from $50 million to $124 million.
The plans were part of a combination tour and informational meeting at which officials spelled out the numerous options to replace the existing school at 101 Mosier St.
During the tour, Mosier Elementary Principal Cindy Flynn pointed out signs of weakened structural integrity, water damage and failing facility systems in the 56-year-old building. Flynn said safety concerns and space constraints are, by far, the most pressing issues for educators in the building.
“So our capacity is right about where we should be, but we’ve never had enough space,” Flynn said. “This building was made with just classrooms in mind. It was not made knowing about special education, occupational therapy, speech therapy, breakout spaces for teachers.”
The seven options presented Thursday fall under four different categories: renovating the current building to bring it up to code; renovating the existing school and expanding it with new wings; building a new school on the current Mosier site; or constructing a school on a new site behind Michael E Smith Middle School.
All of these options have two versions — one to reflect a school that houses about 360 second, third and fourth grade students as it does now, and another to reflect a school that accommodates 590 students in grades 1 through 5. First graders would move from Henry J. Skala School (formerly Plains) and fifth graders would move from Michael E. Smith Middle School.
Plans for construction of a new elementary school have been in the works for several years, and in 2023, the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) accepted South Hadley into its grant program. The MSBA partially reimburses communities for eligible costs of new school construction and major renovations. While the base reimbursement rate can be as much as 61% of the total project cost, Nick Lobik, the town’s owner-project manager from Skanska construction and development, said reimbursement amounts always fall below that rate.
“We like to say it’s a seven- to nine-year project from beginning until end,” School Building Committee Chair Diane Mulvaney said. “So we don’t make decisions lightly. We watch the money very closely.”
Up to code option
Former School Board member Kevin McAllister remembers when conversations to rebuild Mosier surfaced in the mid-2010s. The building, constructed in 1956, was showing its age after years of water and ice pooling on the flat-top roof.
Flynn jokes that the electrical system could be “donated to the Smithsonian.” The mechanics for the German-made boiler are flown in for maintenance. There is no fire suppression system, so the fire districts do not allow walls covered in papers and monitor the use of electrical outlets.
“This building is definitely something that stresses them out,” Flynn said.
The base renovation option of bringing the building up to code will solve many of the elementary school’s system issues. This option will cost an estimated $50 million to $55 million, but Lobik said it will likely have little to no reimbursement from MSBA.
Superintendent Jennifer Voyik points out that portable classrooms will remain in the base option. These modular rooms were built due to lack of space. One of the bathroom walls is held together by orange duct tape, she noted.
“It doesn’t address overcrowding,” Voyik said. “We would continue to have inadequate support spaces and inadequate interior environment.”
This option also does not include the potential grade realignment. Voyik said moving first and fifth grades to Mosier meets students’ developmental needs and opens more opportunities for vocational programming.
“What’s interesting about the one through five option is it actually touches every other school in this district,” Voyik said.
If the Skala School becomes an early childhood center, for instance, then the high school would create an early childhood education vocational pathway. These programs — in addition to enabling the district to offer expanded science, technology, math and arts — have consistently kept students from leaving the district, officials said.
Flynn commends the custodial and education staff for adapting to the building’s limitations, but these innovations are often not enough to meet student needs. Therapists who come into the building continue to raise concerns about a lack of privacy and space. The school spends money “almost frivolously” on quick fixes that are simply not as effective as additional classrooms, Flynn said.
The building, constructed as one large square, placed the bathrooms at the end of the halls. Students miss class time walking half the school and back, Flynn said.
“It’s kind of isolated. We have to be very careful and keeping eyes on them,” Flynn said.
Addition, renovation
The addition and renovation option not only creates the opportunity to build special education and therapeutic classrooms but also groups grades together in a “neighborhood” structure. When resident Emily Young mentioned that keeping young learners away from older learners was once considered best practice in education, Flynn said those practices have changed to a more community-style layout.
“Kids are with their grade level peers, which is not happening right now in this building,” she said. “It allows the building to share the media center and to share the music rooms and to share more facilities.”
Renovations and additions will cost between $80 million and $115 million. The higher price corresponds with adding two grades in Mosier.
Starting new
The new construction would also apply this “neighborhood” approach by keeping the administration offices and community spaces centrally located, with classrooms farther away from the entrance. It would eliminate the many current entrances in the building.
“Right now we can’t lock off spaces, so anything that’s happening here [at night], anyone in community can go anywhere in the building,” Voyik said.
Construction would take place either on the current Mosier site where the athletic fields are or behind the middle school. The former, however, would limit outdoor play spaces during construction.
New construction for 360 students at the current Mosier site would cost an estimated $90 million, compared to $92 million at the new site. If first and fifth grades are added, the costs jump to $124 million or $120 million, respectively.
With the feasibility study completed, the School Building Project Committee will continue to gather public feedback and refine the designs. Eventually, they will decide on one option and craft a schematic design for MSBA to review in April 2026. MSBA will respond with an estimated reimbursement so residents will have hard numbers to vote on in winter of 2027.
To see the designs of the seven options, visit the South Hadley Elementary Building Project tab on the district’s website.
