Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School (MVRHS) is progressing through the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) process for a renovated or newly built school building.
MVRHS special projects coordinator Sam Hart shared during a MVRHS School Committee meeting on Monday that CHA Consulting, the firm chosen by the school to be the owner’s project manager for the building project, recently met with the MSBA board. According to Hart, the state is in the process of finalizing the details to name CHA as the owner’s project manager.
CHA is currently the owner’s project manager for the Tisbury School construction project.
The high school committee is scheduled to meet on Monday, Dec. 11, to discuss and potentially vote on entering into a contract with CHA.
According to Martha’s Vineyard Public Schools business administrator Mark Friedman, CHA would be the first contract the district would be entering into in the MSBA process. Friedman said the firm wants to start the hiring process for an architect once the contract has been authorized.
“It’s remarkable and amazing that we have gotten this far,” committee chair Kathryn Shertzer said.
Meanwhile, the committee voted 5-1 to approve Rebecca Eldeiry’s appointment to the MVRHS building committee. Shertzer voted against the appointment, while Mike Watts and Kris O’Brien abstained.
Prior to the vote, Watts asked Eldeiry, “If you are on the minority end of a vote and you strongly disagree with the majority decision, will you follow the majority decision, or will you take active measures to undermine that decision?” Eldeiry responded that she considers herself an associate member, and stepped in because nobody else in Tisbury would.
“I’m coming in humble and willing to learn. I have no ideas or thoughts of undermining anything,” she said. “I believe the high school is the center of our community, and I’m coming into this with a ton of positivity. I’m really just stepping up to help.”
Eldeiry said she’d be willing to relinquish her position to someone else if a better candidate comes forward.
The committee also went over litigation updates with its attorney, Brian Winner, regarding the lawsuit with the Oak Bluffs planning board over the athletic field. The committee discussed the legal opinion from counsel Murphy, Lamere, and Murphy regarding anonymous donations. Although no new details emerged on either topic during the meeting, the committee also voted 5-3 to go into a short executive session, per Winner’s recommendation. Lionette, Manter, and Ackerman voted against entering into executive session.
