• Contact Us
  • Events calendar
Entering Swellesley
Pinnacle, Wellesley

The Swellesley Report

More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

  • Advertise
  • Wellesley Square
  • Deland, Gibson Insurance Athlete of the Week
  • Camp
  • Private schools, sponsored by Riverbend
  • Business index
  • Contribute
  • Eat
  • Schools
  • Top 10 things to do
  • Embracing diversity
  • Kids
  • About us
  • Events
  • Natick Report
  • Seniors
  • Letters to the editor
  • Guidelines for letters to the editor
  • Live government meetings
  • Raiders sports schedules & results
  • Fire & police scanner
  • 2023 Town Election
 
Needham Bank, Wellesley
Write Ahead, Wellesley

Our students need Yes votes for both Hunnewell and Hardy

December 6, 2021 by admin 2 Comments

In the past week, a group claiming that one new school would solve our dire need for new elementary facilities has emerged, stating that Hunnewell is not needed and should close along with Upham in the interest of saving money for taxpayers.

Anyone who is familiar with both the map of Wellesley and the town’s century-long commitment to neighborhood schools can see why every committee studying our elementary facilities over the past 10 years has unanimously voted that Hunnewell must be rebuilt, given its location as the only school covering the southwest side of town. To do anything else would bring an end to
neighborhood schools.

It is well established that elementary enrollment is in decline. This has been debated and discussed for years, and it is the reason that the School Committee never put forward anything but a consolidation plan. The town is already planning to close the Upham School and redistrict into six schools as part of this project. Building two schools now at Hunnewell and Hardy maintains the neighborhood model, ensures all elementary students are educated in appropriate spaces, and provides long-term flexibility to absorb the ebbs and flows of enrollment. The plan also accounts for future developments in the pipeline, including the apartments at the Wellesley Office Park, 350 units currently under construction.

In fact, given these current and future needs, a No vote on Hunnewell would not result in its immediate closure and redistricting to 5 schools. Rather, the existing Hunnewell would remain open indefinitely to serve students in this outdated building, with the town incurring significant maintenance and repair costs to keep it running.

It is important to note that the tax impact for these projects that is reflected on the town’s tax calculator is for the estimated maximum tax impact for one year only, currently expected for Fiscal Year 2025. The town repays its large debt exclusions using a “level principal” method, meaning the payments start high and decline over time. The town also restructures its debt
when conditions are favorable, as it has in recent years, saving millions for taxpayers. Existing excluded debt for capital investments declines and the payments for them drop every year.

The tax calculator does not show that the high school debt is decreasing at the same time, so the actual impact on tax bills for the Hunnewell and Hardy projects will be progressively softened. In fact, at Town Meeting, Finance Director Sheryl Strother presented estimates that in 10 years, the amount of excluded debt for all projects including Hunnewell and Hardy will roughly equal the current amount of excluded debt.

Given that these schools will be built to last a minimum of 50 years – and likely longer – this is a wise investment in our educational infrastructure, which needs significant further modernization to support our educational programming. More than 90 percent of Town Meeting Members agreed at Special Town Meeting and voted YES for both projects.

Getting to the point where the town is prepared to vote on Tuesday for these two schools has been a very long and difficult process. It is finally time to get this done for our students. We as residents must collectively solve this enormous problem, and put new schools in place by 2024.

Please join me in voting YES for Hunnewell and YES for Hardy on Tuesday.

Sharon Gray
Former School Committee member and School Building Committee chair
Arnold Road

print

Filed Under: Education, Letters to the Editor

Comments

  1. Wellesley Resident says

    December 6, 2021 at 1:12 pm

    Two things to note here-

    When was the last time anyone can recall a spending bill has ever “eased” to the people that pay for it? So this is not an accurate statement:

    “The tax calculator does not show that the high school debt is decreasing at the same time, so the actual impact on tax bills for the Hunnewell and Hardy projects will be progressively softened.”

    Second- take a look at the wording of the debt exclusion language- “including all costs incidental or related thereto”.

    Major problem- can’t give a blank check to build two schools at the same time when we haven’t seen updated numbers of increased costs associated with supply chain and materials increases. Not to mention items that arise once a shovel goes into the ground.

    They should have gone with one project at a time vs jamming two of the most expensive options onto taxpayers. Regardless of ones means- this is going to have an impact and push people out of town (especially the elderly who live on a budget).

    Reply
  2. Al Kessel says

    December 6, 2021 at 3:41 pm

    Amazing how easy it is to burn other people’s money- as evidenced by this piece.
    Any prudent person would simply defer any decision on the Hunnewell school boondoggle for 2years -to see,as is most likely -that parents will continue to desert Wellesley public schools for private schools, making it ever more unnecessary.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Linden Square, Wellesley
Riverbend, Natick

Tip us off…

Please send tips, photos, ideas to theswellesleyreport@gmail.com

 

Advertisements

Wellesley Square, Wellesley Merchants
Wellesley, Jesamondo
Beacon Hill Athletic Club, Wellesley
Fay School, Southborough
Sexton test prep
Feldman Law
Wellesley Theatre Project
Volvo
Cheesy Street Grill
Mature Caregivers
Admit Fit, Wellesley
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
Never miss a post with our free daily Swellesley Report email
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide

You can subscribe for free, though we appreciate any contribution that supports our independent journalism.

Click on Entering Natick sign to read our Natick Report

Entering Natick road sign

Most Read Posts

  • Sign up now for summer camp in Wellesley (and beyond)
  • Letters-to-the-editor day in Wellesley—important election-time updates
  • Wellesley business buzz: Board business liaison phased out; Help ID top business leaders of color; Hospital taps new president
  • Wellesley Cotillion makes a strong comeback
  • Business buzz: Nantucket wine bar to boast Wasik's cheeses; Needham Bank has new Wellesley branch manager; Thanks to new sponsor Beacon Hill Athletic Clubs

Upcoming Events

Jan 26
9:00 am - 10:30 am

Select Board office hours—in-person or online

Jan 31
9:00 am - 11:00 am Recurring

Coffee and Conversation with the Wetlands Administrator and Staff

Jan 31
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Families Eat Together online presentation

Feb 1
11:59 pm

Deadline for Wellesley Hills Junior Women’s Club grants application

Feb 3
10:00 am - 6:00 pm

Sara Campbell winter warehouse sale

View Calendar

Popular pages

  • Wellesley’s 7 official scenic roads

Recent Comments

  • LADY WELLESLEY on Wellesley police officer injured in crash at intersection of Grove and Benvenue
  • Peggy Heffernan on Wellesley police officer injured in crash at intersection of Grove and Benvenue
  • Beth Dublin on Wellesley police officer injured in crash at intersection of Grove and Benvenue
  • Erika on Where to buy the Wellesleyest stuff in Wellesley
  • Alice Roy on Inside Track has jewel of a Wellesley engagement scoop

Links we like

  • Danny's Place
  • Great Runs
  • Jack Sanford: Wellesley's Major League Baseball Star
  • Tech-Tamer
  • The Wellesley Wine Press
  • Universal Hub
  • Wellesley Sports Discussion Facebook Group

Categories

  • 2021 Town Election (24)
  • 2023 Town Election (2)
  • Animals (428)
  • Antiques (49)
  • Art (592)
  • Beyond Wellesley (52)
  • Books (376)
  • Business (1,556)
  • Camp (11)
  • Careers/jobs (53)
  • Churches (82)
  • Clubs (236)
  • Construction (300)
  • Dump (130)
  • Education (3,189)
    • Babson College (252)
    • Bates Elementary School (18)
    • Dana Hall School (36)
    • Fiske Elementary School (11)
    • Hardy Elementary School (47)
    • Hunnewell Elementary School (46)
    • MassBay (57)
    • Schofield Elementary School (26)
    • Sprague Elementary School (19)
    • St. John School (2)
    • Tenacre Country Day School (11)
    • Upham Elementary School (35)
    • Wellesley College (613)
    • Wellesley High School (996)
    • Wellesley Middle School (204)
  • Embracing diversity (84)
  • Entertainment (814)
  • Environment (772)
  • Fashion (144)
  • Finance (15)
  • Fire (173)
  • Food (358)
  • Fundraising (641)
  • Gardens (164)
  • Government (604)
    • 2020 Town Election (47)
    • 2022 Town Election (15)
  • Health (866)
    • COVID-19 (203)
  • Hikes (6)
  • History (399)
  • Holidays (440)
  • Houses (162)
  • Humor (47)
  • Kids (867)
  • Law (8)
  • Legal notices (10)
  • Letters to the Editor (71)
  • Media (72)
  • METCO (4)
  • Military (13)
  • Morses Pond (109)
  • Music (579)
  • Natick Report (30)
  • Neighbors (280)
  • Obituaries & remembrances (86)
  • Outdoors (655)
  • Parenting (63)
  • Police (778)
    • Crime (395)
  • Politics (554)
  • POPS Senior Profile (10)
  • RDF (6)
  • Real estate (344)
  • Religion (138)
  • Restaurants (340)
  • Safety (155)
  • Scouts (2)
  • Seniors (127)
  • Shopping (163)
  • Sponsored (6)
  • Sports (1,012)
    • Athlete of the Week (12)
  • STEM (108)
  • Technology (165)
  • Theatre (397)
  • Town Meeting (23)
  • Transportation (240)
  • Travel (17)
  • Uncategorized (1,244)
  • Volunteering (350)
  • Weather (179)
  • Wellesley Election 2019 (21)
  • Wellesley Free Library (280)
  • Wellesley Holiday Gift Guide (2)
  • Wellesley's Wonderful Weekend (20)

© 2023 The Swellesley Report
Site by Tech-Tamer · Login