Dale Building Team to Meet Jan. 8; "Milestone" Schedule Available

The next Dale Street School Building Committee meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 8 in the Public Safety Building Training Room (view agenda here) with educational programming and site selection updates, "preliminary design program" requirements, community engagement, and project schedule and budget among the various items to be discussed.

For anyone interested in planning further ahead, the Dale committee has also shared the latest "Milestone Meeting & Project Schedule" currently posted among Dec. 19, 2019 School Committee meeting documents (with dates subject to change).

A few key notes from the Milestone schedule and information obtained from prior meetings:

• Medfield Board of Selectmen (BoS) had been scheduled to officially vote on the contract with design firm Arrowstreet at its Jan. 7, 2020 meeting, but the action seems to be delayed since it is not listed on the posted agenda for the BoS meeting.

• According to the Milestone schedule (as of Dec. 17, 2019) and discussion at the Dec. 17 Dale committee meeting, the various "working sessions" noted and taking place throughout January will include discussions about possible grade re-configuration, as well as other key topics.

• The next Dale Street session/discussion for the general public is scheduled for Feb. 4. This would be the second community-wide gathering of its kind.

• Smaller-scale discussions are planned at local coffee shops with a schedule to be posted in January.

At its Dec. 17, the Dale School Building Committee voted on the formation of an Educational Programming Subcommittee. (The Milestone schedule and Jan. 8, 2020 meeting agenda does not specifically state when the public "subcommittee" meetings will be held.)

Superintendent Marsden shared at the Dec. 19 School Committee meeting that he will be serving on the new subcommittee, along with these 10 other members appointed and approved by the Dale Building Committee on Dec. 17: district administrators Christine Powers, Mary Bruhl, Steve Grenham and Michael LaFrancesca; elementary teachers Erin Watson, Bethany Sager and Leanne DiPesa; school committee members Leo Brehm and Anna Mae O'Shea Brooke; and Medfield Facilities Director Amy Colleran. (It was confirmed that Wheelock Principal Holli Caulfield is not a subcommittee member.)

In addition to the subcommittee, Superintendent Marsden also shared at the Dec. 19 School Committee meeting that about "25-26" people will be part of an "Educational Visioning" group, with participants identified based on "folks who have shown an interest in the project." It was noted that participants include Selectman Gus Murby and Warrant Committee Chair Mike Pastore, as well as various unnamed school volunteers, teachers, officials and others who attended the first public visioning session in December.

MSBA mandates transparency and other types of compliance

The Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) asks key representatives from each district in its program to sign both an Initial Compliance Certification and Feasibility Study Agreement in which it will abide by about 40 different project and/or legal requirements related to such topics as Open Meeting Law, contractual relationship with MSBA and project manager, criteria for school site selection, payment eligibility and insurance, and responsibilities related to public awareness about the project. (The Initial Compliance Certification document is posted on the Dale Street School Building page of the school district website; the Feasibility Study Agreement was obtained by MSBA via a Public Records Request.)

An updated enrollment projection report provided by NESDEC was recently shared with Medfield School Committee and shows a nearly 22 percent increase in Pre-K to grade 12 students by school year 2029-30 from the current 2,600 students. School officials have said that a grade 3-5 re-configuration is desired in part to free up more space for kindergarten and pre-kindergarten classes. Challenges remain about how to best accommodate the short-term need for space at Memorial until the Dale Street project is completed in time for a fall 2023 or 2024 opening.

Dale Building Committee members shared that the two most likely building sites are the current Dale Street location and land adjacent to current Wheelock site, although the Medfield State Hospital property is under consideration too.

If the Wheelock site is ultimately chosen it could become a grade 1-5 campus, and with the presence of Blake Middle School and Medfield High School, four out of five Medfield schools would then be located on the south side of town.

Potential challenges exist with two of the identified sites, as noted by project manager finalists last year. They include possible conservation land and well constraints at Wheelock, as well as limited space available for expansion at the current Dale Street location. It has also been documented in the 2017 Dale Street School Evaluation that the current Dale building has asbestos present in the boiler room, pipe insulation and floor tiles (not believed to be a current health risk since it is undisturbed), so time and remediation costs may need to be factored into project scope.

As the project moves through the Feasibility Study phase, Dale School Building Committee Chair Mike Quinlan has stressed the desire of the committee to adjust the project timeline as needed to ensure public participation in the process, noting that MSBA also controls the schedule.

All are welcome to attend the 7 p.m., Jan. 8, 2020 Dale School Building Committee meeting. A public input period is not noted on the agenda, but at prior meetings, attendees have been invited by the chair to provided feedback.