School renovation project lowered to $53.2 million

Modular classrooms may add $5 million; student relocation a big worry.

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Schools across the Island are postponing in-person instruction because of a spike in Island COVID-19 cases.

Monday night the Tisbury School Building Committee received a $53,185,500 estimate to gut and renovate the town’s elementary school. The figure came in at about $4 million less than an earlier rough estimate of nearly $57 million and $2 million less than the $55 million town officials were using to calculate bonding possibilities. The committee will meet Tuesday night at 5:30 pm with the select board, finance committee, school committee and PTO to further discuss the estimate and next steps for project. 

At the meeting on Monday, project manager Richard Marks told the board that the modular classrooms needed for students during the two-year construction period  “could be upwards of $5 million.” He said the partial use of existing facilities to put some grades in would mitigate the cost of modular classrooms. The mere idea of a potential separation of the grades proved a nonstarter for several committee members who said it would sap parental enthusiasm for the project. Concern was also expressed over the idea of long term financing for modular classrooms and the notion of possibly reusing the modular classrooms as a municipal facility elsewhere was deliberated.

Based on what she learned from the PTO, committee member Reade Milne said the three major concerns of parents are cost, a building that meets the educational needs of the children, and where students will be during construction. She focused on the latter topic following ideas put forth by Marks that could leave the fate of some student temporary classrooms open ended. 

“I think it’s important to show parents that we really thought through where all of the kids are going to be for the whole time that they’re going to have to be somewhere else,” Milne said.

She suggested it would be politically unwise to not be concrete about the subject. For instance, she said if part of the solution is remote learning, if parents will need to bring their kids to work with them for part of the day, then it will be impactful and they need to know that upfront. 

“I totally agree,” Marks said, “and I have to say I think it’s incumbent upon, frankly, to be blunt, the town and the school department to come up with this answer. I don’t live on the Island. I can’t come up with the answer. I’ve spoken with people several times. There’s not an easy answer.”

Marks went on to say he had hoped that grades 5 to 8 could be sent to the high school during renovation, what he described as “the cheapest of the remedies,” but that  “just has been met with a lot of resistance from a lot of different folks.”

Committee member Rita Jeffers expressed concern about unduly stressing parents with conjecture. 

“I think we need to be really careful and cautious about throwing out certain grade levels that would be moved or not not included,” she said.

Based on some of the ideas being discussed, she said some students would “never ever be part of our school again” due to the pandemic and then construction relocation. 

“I think that would cause a lot of people to turn their backs to the project,” she said, adding parents would “start looking for alternative places to put their children”. 

Jeffers said committee members need to be mindful that parents “are going through so much right now” and the idea of possibly not being included in the modular classroom scheme could “really break a family”.

Milne said she believed all Tisbury School pupils should be kept either on site in modular classrooms during the project or perhaps in modular classrooms at Veterans Memorial Park, even if the costs prove steep. She said there are not adequate alternate facilities available and there isn’t space in other Island schools.  

Marks said he understood Milne’s viewpoint but found it difficult to reconcile an expenditure that will amount to 10 percent of project costs “just to temporarily house the kids for two years.”

He added that was an “awful lot” to borrow over 30 years.

“I get their education is important,” Marks said. “I get in person education is important, but I think there’s got to be a better way than spending $5 million, especially when there’s so much pressure on the price.” 

He later noted one way to save on modular classrooms might be to buy them second hand from a similar project he’s working on in Lincoln. He also said the classrooms could be initially leased and then purchased and repurposed. 

“There’s all kinds of ways to skin this cat,” he said. 

Milne emphasized parents are already wound tight and do not need any uncertainty in where their kids will be.  

“Parents are so insanely stressed right now,” Milne said. ”And I know I’m preaching to the choir when I say that. We are up against a wall. That’s me speaking for all my co-parents. I mean we wake up every morning just going ‘alright, this is what you do, you just take a deep breath and you figure it out.’ This is a horrible time to make a presentation and say, alright, so here’s kind of what we’re going to do with the kids but we haven’t figured it out but we’ll probably figure it out. I guarantee that that will have parents turn their backs on this project.”

“So will $58 to $60 million,” Marks said. He noted Milne had said as much at another time. But he also said he “totally got” where she was coming from. Nevertheless, he said he felt there still could be an option that included other facilities — “maybe it’s only kindergarten, 7th and 8th but if we could ever relocate those three grades, we would have a far less costly option.” 

Milne accepted the economic argument but requested nothing be left ambiguous. 

Committee chair Harold Chapdelaine said Milne had expressed legitimate concerns. He suggested the next task for the committee should be to “brain storm” on student relocation.

He said the idea of using Veterans Memorial Park “should be explored” and suggested it should be “the next action item for this committee”. 

Committee member Jim Rogers, who is chair of the select board, said any plan presented to the voters, must contain “temporary education facilities”. He underscored Marks’ aversion to long term financing of temporary facilities and said it was important to leave all options on the table about where kids will be temporarily located. 

Tisbury finance director Jonathan Snyder said expenses associated with temporary classrooms could be separated from the main project costs and subject to short term financing. 

Regardless, he said, it would “still be a significant project and have a significant impact on tax bills.”

Committee member Michael Watts asked if money spent on modular trailers for the Tisbury School project could somehow be subtracted from costs assessed to the town as part of any high school renovation project. Chapdelaine said the idea was worth exploring. 

He also made it clear ideas arising from debate about modular classrooms and the relocation of students could be unduly distressing to parents and students. In light of that he said “nothing” said in the meeting represents a formal plan.