School committee meeting — Hunnewell, Hardy, Upham update

Hunnewell School — Request for Quotation approved

At the Tuesday, April 24 School Committee meeting, the Committee vote to approve a Request for Quotation (RFQ) for a Hunnewell School design. As part of a larger Scope of Feasibility Study the RFQ for the school, built in 1938, will study the question of whether it can be renovated. If a renovation is deemed not feasible, it will be decided which elements of Hunnewell can be used and incorporated into a new building. A focus of the study will be on what the building looks like structurally. If it is found that the structure can’t be reused or reworked, decisions will then need to be made about what elements can be taken from that building and used in a new design.

On May 2 there will be a mandatory site visit for companies interested in bidding on the contract.

On May 9, there will be a follow up meeting for those companies.

On June 5, there will be a Special Town Meeting to discuss Article 3, which is being put forth by the Board of Selectmen and the School Committee. In summary, here’s the article:

Will the Town vote to appropriate $1,000,000 or another sum to be expended under the direction of the School Committee for a feasibility study of the Hunnewell School including architectural and engineering services and all associated costs related to the renovation, reconstruction, addition, consolidation, or replacement of the Hunnewell School?

Hardy and Upham — the rumors continue to swirl

We’d heard rumors around town that it was decided at the April 24 School Committee meeting that one of the elementary schools would be closed. In the interest of putting those rumors to rest, know that there are still many more hoops to jump through before any such decision is made.

Superintendent David Lussier said that the town is committed to fully exploring both of the sites. “The emphasis is on doing a Feasibility Study on both the Hardy and the Upham sites,” Lussier said.

According to Vice Chair Matt Kelley, “Districts must explore a range of options and not enter into the process with a preconceived notion of what the answer is going to be. A necessary part of the process is to study both sites. And that’s what’s going to happen.”

You can see the video of the meeting on Wellesley Media.