The Swellesley Report

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

Wellesley School Committee votes for a teardown/rebuild of Hunnewell

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Hunnewell School, WellesleyIt’s the news story that isn’t surprising news. The votes are in, and they say that the one-level, 15-classroom Hunnewell Elementary School that currently holds 260 students should be torn down and replaced with a new two-story, 19-classroom building that will educate 350 – 375 students.

Earlier this month the Board of Selectmen (BOS) voted to affirm the School Building Committee’s (SBC) recommendation that Hunnewell be a from-scratch project. Then on June 24 the School Committee agreed with the BOS and the SBC and voted 4 – 0 for a new structure.

The voting isn’t over yet, however. Next, the question of funding must be put to Town Meeting. In addition, an as-yet unresolved issue is the question of where to educate students during construction.

As for the Hardy and Upham Schools, the emphasis right now is on doing a Feasibility Study on both sites.

Wellesley has seven elementary schools. Hardy, Hunnewell, and Upham are the three schools that have been under consideration for either renovation or teardown/rebuild.

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Wellesley Board of Selectmen agrees to new Hunnewell construction; discusses name change to Select Board

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The Board of Selectmen (BOS) met on Monday, June 17 at 7pm in the Juliani Room at Town Hall to discuss and vote on the School Building Committee‘s (SBC) recommendation that the Hunnewell Elementary School project go forward as new construction, and to discuss a change of name for the BOS itself, among other issues.

BOS Chairman Jack Morgan called for the vote on the Hunnewell construction project. Vice Chair Marjorie Freiman then moved  “to affirm the vote of the SBC to recommend new construction for the Hunnewell School.”

The vote for new construction for Hunnewell passed unanimously.

The next SBC meeting will be June 25, 2019, 5:30pm, location to be determined.

MORE:

Construction update for Hunnewell School in Wellesley

What’s in a name?

Also on the agenda was an item to discuss changing the name of the Board of Selectmen (BOS)  to Select Board. The idea behind such a move is to allow the Board to go by a more inclusive term.

BOS Chair Jack Morgan said, “We’re not exactly cutting edge here. As I recall, the numbers are something like 80 towns in Massachusetts have changed the name from Board of Selectmen to Select Board.” Massachusetts has 351 municipalities in all (39 cities, 312 towns in 14 counties). Many towns are governed by a Board, but not all. Over 25% of those towns governed by a Board have in recent years moved from the name “Board of Selectmen” to “Select Board” or something similarly gender-neutral.

Throwback time

Morgan noted that the term “Board of Selectmen” hearkened back to the 17th century when to vote in a town one had to be male, possibly also a property owner, and possibly also a member of the church. “We’ve come a long way since then as a society and as a Commonwealth,” Morgan said.

During discussion, BOS members chimed in.

Lise Olney said, “I’m strongly in favor of making this change. People recognize the name Select Board as being a more inclusive term.”

Marjorie Freiman said, “It’s timely and would bring Wellesley  up with these 80 other towns. For me, it’s important to show our support to be inclusive.”

For Beth Sullivan Woods, it was not a must-do. “When I think of all the issues we have to deal with, for me it’s not up there on the high-priority list. I have trouble with the term Select Person because it sounds like One of The Chosen. I do believe we should be inclusive.”

Tom Ulfelder said that is was simply a matter of recognition and value.

There was no vote taken on the matter. That comes later.

Now that the BOS has discussed the matter in a public meeting, and it is clear that the BOS is inclined to change the name, the next step will be for Town of Wellesley Executive Director Meghan Jop to work with Tom Harrington of Miyares & Harrington (Wellesley’s Town Counsel) to advise the Board on the recommended pathway to make the name change.

There will be further discussion on the issue, and the pubic will be invited to comment at a meeting in the near future. Either at that meeting or at a subsequent meeting the BOS will formally vote, possibly over the summer and before Labor Day.

From there, the BOS would send the issue forward for Town Meeting action, most likely in 2020.

Don’t get whiplash watching all this unfold.

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Not even fire can put out the annual Hunnewell Fun Fair in Wellesley

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Hunnewell Fun FairWe have fond memories of Hunnewell Fun Fair days when our kids would play that Take-a-Cake game as many times as it took until, by gum, they finally won. The thicker the frosting on the cake and the more decorated with candy, the better. Back in those more innocent times, the hardworking event Chairs’ biggest headache was the potential for derailment by rain. The electrical fire that broke out in the school earlier this month forcing the Fun Fair to be postponed until Friday, May 31 was a new one.

But you can’t keep Hunnewell down. After closing for three days during which the State Fire Marshall, the Wellesley Facilities Management Department, and the Wellesley Building Inspector determined that the building was safe, Hunnewell students returned to class. All smoke detectors in the affected area were replaced.

Now, it’s time for fun.

Support the Hunnewell community

Let the Hunnewell community know that the town is with them and join in the good times at the Hunnewell Fun Fair. The revelry takes place on Friday, May 31, 3pm – 6pm with all the things — rides, games, face painting, games, food, and more. I wouldn’t miss it this year for anything.

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Hunnewell Elementary School fire update: 2 half days going full

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Hunnewell School, WellesleyWellesley Public Schools Superintendent David Lussier gave an update on the Hunnewell Elementary School fire situation during Wellesley’s School Committee Meeting on Tuesday, revealing that the school will convert 2 of its remaining half days to full ones to help make up for the days lost due to last week’s classroom fire.

No make-up date is required for last Wednesday, the day of the fire. WPS has coordinated with the state’s education commissioner and Department of Elementary & Secondary Education to get a waiver for one of the two other days missed due to the fire, and then to convert this Wednesday and next Wednesday’s scheduled half days to full days. That’s preferable to adding a Monday to the end of the school year, which is slated to be Friday, June 14.

The two 4th grade classrooms directly affected by the fire won’t be used for the rest of this school year. “Those have been sequestered with a negative pressure sort of envelope,” said Lussier, sounding very science-y.

Lussier thanked public safety departments, school personnel and the facilities team for their quick and smart actions in preventing a bad situation from getting worse. He also thanked Matt Chin from the Wellesley Recreation Department for putting together a 2-day camp for Hunnewell kids to help keep dozens of kids engaged and help parents avoid scrambling for last-minute childcare this past Thursday and Friday.

As a reminder, the Hunnewell Fair originally scheduled for May 17 has been rescheduled to May 31.

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Fire at Wellesley’s Hunnewell School not deemed suspicious; school closed until Monday, Fun Fair postponed

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Wellesley fire, Hunnewell
Photo credit: Wellesley Police Department

A Wednesday morning fire at Hunnewell Elementary School at 28 Cameron St., in Wellesley closed the school for the day and will keep it closed until Monday, May 20.

The Hunnewell Fun Fair, slated for this Friday, is being postponed until Friday, May 31.

According to Wellesley Public Schools Superintendent David Lussier, the fire affected 2 classrooms and is not believed by the Fire Department to be suspicious. The Fire Department believes the fire was electrical in nature.

Lussier wrote: “Before we can safely re-open the building, several important things need to happen. We are conducting tests of surfaces and air quality throughout the entire school to ensure that no potentially hazardous materials became airborne outside of the affected classrooms. We are also assessing all electrical, fire detection, and other building systems to ensure that nothing was compromised and that all of our systems are fully operational.  

As each of these comprehensive steps will take time and after consulting with the many on-site experts at the scene, Hunnewell will remain closed until Monday, May 20th. If for any reason that date moves as a result of the testing and clean-up, we will communicate further details to the Hunnewell community.”

The community is asked to steer clear of the area, including the playground, while the investigation and cleanup continue.

 

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