Proponents of a non-binding referendum about whether Wellesley should keep all 7 of its elementary schools have collected the required signatures to get their question on the March 17 Town Election ballot.
The town has confirmed that the volunteer team collected signatures of at least 10% of Wellesley’s registered voters by Feb. 4. The signature drive began Jan. 3, and ended on Jan. 18, as more than 2,500 signatures were in hand, according to Mari Passananti, who has spoken out on the initiative at physical and virtual forums.
The petition reads:
Do you believe the Town of Wellesley should keep our current seven neighborhood elementary school model by rebuilding and/or renovating the Hardy, Hunnewell and Upham Elementary Schools, instead of closing one school and redistricting all of our elementary students into six schools? Please vote YES or NO.
A YES vote would advise the Town of Wellesley to retain our current neighborhood school model by renovating and/or rebuilding the Hardy, Hunnewell and Upham Elementary Schools.
A NO vote would advise the Town of Wellesley to close either Hardy Elementary School or Upham Elementary School, without voter input on which school to close, and to re-district all our town’s elementary school students into six schools.
This wording didn’t sit well with several Board of Selectmen members, who rejected by a 4-1 vote an initial bid for their approval at a December meeting. Town Meeting members at a Special Town Meeting in December voted overwhelmingly to approve $5M in funds for design plans and more for a new or reconstructed Hunnewell Elementary School.
Undeterred, those in favor of Wellesley retaining 7 neighborhood elementary schools went out and got those signatures.
“Wellesley residents are extremely engaged on this looming decision, which will affect our town for multiple generations,” Passananti says. “Our walkable neighborhood schools have been acclaimed for many decades. Walkability boosts property values and builds community. Consolidation would put significantly more cars on our roads—more than nullifying any energy efficiency in the new building, increase congestion in our central business district, and send very small kids to school in huge buildings. (The currently proposed Hunnewhopper would be 75,000 square feet—much larger than either Bates or Sprague.)”
Passananti acknowledges scaling up of facilities is needed to accommodate special education programming, and that Hunnewell is in need of renovation in a reasonable way.
If Wellesley voters prove to be in favor of keeping all 7 schools, Passananti says she’s hopeful the town’s government will reconsider current plans.
“After the election, we will have much more clarity on whichever path our town’s electorate prefers,” she says.
Redistricting review on Feb. 11
All of this ties in to the town’s redistricting plans, which are tricky to formulate given the Hardy Hunnewell Upham plan is still unfolding.
Wellesley Public Schools is asking for input on updated draft elementary school redistricting maps (see planned presentation embedded below).
The maps were developed by the Redistricting Advisory Committee and originally shared with the community in January.
After input from residents at two community forums, a survey, and other communications, the committee used this feedback to refine and develop updated map options.
The maps will be presented to the School Committee at a public hearing on Tuesday, Feb. 11 at 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall. The School Committee will not be making any decisions on the maps at the hearing. That won’t happen until its Feb. 25 meeting.
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Proponents of the referendum collected 2,500 signatures in only three weeks. This shows that we taxpayers in Wellesley overwhelmingly support the referendum, neighborhood schools, and having our voices heard. Decisions cannot be made by walk-on elected officials who do not listen to their constituents. I am voting yes to the referendum and yes to electing candidates with fresh perspectives to our elected seats.
I am excited to see that the ballot question was approved after a frustrating and fruitless conversation with the BOS. I have learned more about how town government works AND DOESN’T work from this multi-year disaster of a project.
I have never in my professional life been told that I have unlimited time and budget to create a product for customers that don’t actually want it. That’s not how business is done and I cannot understand why we tolerate this approach from our town leaders who are spending OUR money.
We now need to get the vote out – YES to 7 schools and vote for Lauren Duprey, the only school committee candidate who has promised to respect the outcome of the vote.
While the idea of only building two schools until the enrollment dictates building the third school is fiscally responsible, the plan falls apart when you supersize Hunnewell and to 75,000 sq feet in what would be the most expensive elementary school in Massachusetts. This would be fiscally irresponsible and not appropriate for the size of the site at Hunnewell.
I will vote Yes to the referendum question as a vote to design appropriate size and cost neighborhood schools.
Thank you for putting this referendum forward. I think a YES vote can also be considered a vote of no confidence for the current plan for two large (square footage). schools. We are not Brookline or Newton. I find it interesting you mentioned the size of Hunnewell, I really had no idea they were going from 35 to 75 Sq ft for this building.
As a taxpayer I am assuming a new large Hunnewell school will be run at full capacity (85% or higher) to justify the cost. I am not sure that this will be the case.
I also wonder how many Hunnewell families realize the decision for a larger school in their district will be directly responsible for another school closing. This alone will have many residents voting No for the Hunnewell project if two schools go to a debt exclusion. Is Hunnewell being set up to fail?
There is no validity to a time lag under for a three school plan. as School Committee recently stated. A direction shift, especially at this stage, makes sense if that is what will be supported at a debt exclusion.
I will be a Yes.vote for the referendum and I strongly urge others to join me.
I’m just very glad that taxpayers finally get a say in what should’ve been a community consensus to begin with.
Neighborhood schools have always been the social fabric of Wellesley. Our schools have been right sized and tested over our history and building schools twice the current size will not change our A+ school ratings it will however cause more bussing, traffic and redistricting problems for families.
VotIng Yes is a WIN for all citizens in Wellesley and puts common sense back on the table!
Kitty Cort
TMM
Thank you to Mari and team for pushing this forward and giving residents a level field to be heard. Since square one, the party line has been that there’s overwhelming town support for closing a school. If that’s not reflected in the vote, then we need to hit pause, investigate the disconnect, and ensure it didn’t cause other incorrect conclusions. So many folks have been alienated and steamrolled by the process to date, and this is the chance to set the record straight. It might be our last chance to avoid getting Hunnewhopped!