Will $17-20 Million Be Put at Risk with Dale Site Decision?

In these challenging fiscal times, more than 200 community members to date are hoping that at the Nov. 10 Selectmen meeting, our town leaders will decide not to gamble with an estimated $17 to $21 million in state funding toward a Dale Street School replacement, and choose the location that seems to have the largest and most diverse base of citizen support: Dale at Dale (not Dale at Wheelock).

According to Medfield School Building Committee, the estimated reimbursement by Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) is $20.5 million for a Dale Street addition/renovation, and $17.9 million for a new school at the Wheelock site. Based on MSBA information, the state entity will require the same state-of-the art educational standards to be met regardless of site; any claims otherwise have not been documented. (A cost comparison chart using numbers provided in a recent Arrowstreet presentation is shown.)

In May 2018, Ipswich was one of several towns that failed to achieve the necessary 2/3 majority vote (by a margin of just 39 votes) for its school building project based on numerous media accounts, including The Salem News. The unpopular site selection was frequently cited as the main reason for the lack of support.

With citizens townwide already expressing opposition to the Wheelock site based on e-mails, letters and website sign-ups alone (mostly from residents without children in the schools), combined with spring SBC community survey results indicating Dale Street was the preferred site over Wheelock by a statistically significant margin (with majority of respondents who do have children in the schools), the risk of a failed 2/3 vote for the Medfield school project isn't something to be ignored. Much community divisiveness can be averted too.

Complicating matters:

• Cost confusion that has resulted due to lack of financial detail shared in a press release distributed by a PR firm hired by the district (with taxpayer dollars) that only stated partial project costs, and failed to include "alternatives" the SBC has deemed mandatory (such as field replacements). See chart posted. Big-school research shows that any reduction in facility/administrative costs could be lost due to an increase in operating costs related to busing, and increased staffing to meet heightened social-emotional needs of students and address lower teacher morale. Two schools on the Wheelock site is projected to have a total population of more than 1,000 young children.

• Claims of rising enrollment fears when this year alone, 109 Medfield K-3 students never materialized. This difference was known in late spring, before anyone could anticipate the impact of the pandemic by fall 2020. Even district leaders expressed concerns about too-high projections, and they met with MSBA in July to seek a reduction in the building size (no resolution).

• When combined with both Wheelock and Blake being significantly under historical enrollment highs vs. 2019/20 (and without above-norm class sizes), Medfield could save time and money spent on modular classrooms by tapping into existing school space during an addition/renovation construction period for Dale Street School. Many other districts have done exactly that, according to MSBA and one member of the Medfield SBC.

Choosing Wheelock creates unnecessary and additional facility pressures the town does not need, and citizens cannot afford, over the long term.

At the same time, a choice of Wheelock destroys the very aspects of the town prized by the community per Master Plan process, including open space, small-town character, and a vital downtown -- without risk to the educational excellence the district has achieved for decades. Teachers, parents and students make great schools, not buildings.

(Beyond Dale costs, it has also been stated by consultants at a January forum that a new Park & Recreation re-use of the school could potentially cost $20 million; costs could go higher with additional field work and other options incorporated, but user fees could cover those.)

Other Dale at Dale proponent concerns

- A near doubling of traffic and aversion to a traffic light at Elm and South Streets.

- Loss of significant open space at Wheelock which was specifically purchased by the town decades ago to protect town wells from development. (Just because a 575-student school is a permittable use in a Well Protection District doesn't mean it is advisable.)

- Harm to scenic, historic Elm Street, especially with the site located in an Archaeological Protection District (with documentation and/or reports of Native American artifacts discovered in the area, including the Wheelock site during construction of existing school). No data has been shared on harmful environmental impacts caused by a projected increase in vehicle emissions.

- Loss of downtown vitality and educational benefits for 4th and 5th graders with the removal of a school; worries about reduction in property values for Dale-area residents who specifically purchased their homes to be near elementary schools, and especially one in walking distance for older children.

- More challenging accessibility and higher transportation costs for Medfield families in affordable housing, with most homes also close to Dale Street School.

- Safety issues related to lack of walkability on upper Elm, Philip and Cross Streets (vs. a safe and highly walkable downtown location). A principal reportedly got hit by a car in the area several years ago while out for a run.

- Lack of meaningful teacher involvement in the site selection process, and lack of educational data on staff impact, including possible teacher reductions. Also, lack of data on hours anticipated to be added each day or week for teacher collaboration and student outdoor time, and student time spent on buses, and in the queue during dismissal and arrival times when nearly 1,000 young students converge. Teachers had shared pre-pandemic that they don't have enough time in school day to teach core subjects, and that uninterrupted common planning time has been difficult to achieve even after 30 minutes was added to the elementary school day four years ago.

- Lack of active public engagement of other town committee members in the site selection process, including Conservation Commission, Historical Commission, Board of Health, Water/Sewer Board, and Police Department. Even our School Committee never specifically discussed the educational pros and cons of the two sites under consideration at its meetings to help inform the SBC process. Months from now, our non-SBC committees may feel like their own hands are tied by the time official reviews and public hearings take place. (No public meeting notice can be found for the first joint department meeting held a year ago; SBC has listed it among its public meetings held.)

For anyone who would like to join the list of 200+ Dale at Dale supporters, send an e-mail to DaleatDaleMedfield@gmail.com, or visit DaleatDale.com and click "contact us" to sign up.

You can also make your views known by e-mailing Town Administrator Kristine Treirweiler (ktrierweiler@medfield.net) who will share messages with the Selectmen prior to Nov. 10.