Aquinnah voices opposition, support for high school project

Updated Nov. 18

During a tense meeting at the Aquinnah Select Board earlier this month, some town residents raised pointed questions about the cost and other issues surrounding the looming high school building project — a nearly $350 million estimated addition and renovation. But other residents showed support for the project. 

On Nov. 6, the Martha’s Vineyard High School (MVRHS) Building Committee sat down with the select board to give an update about the project to townspeople — the first of a series of public informational sessions on the project before it goes to voters in the spring. They showed sketch renderings of the new building, gave updates on the chosen construction manager at risk (a team of W.T. Rich Co. and Shawmut Design), and gave context about the timeline of the project. 

The up-Island town hall was nearly full of residents listening to the information at hand. 

“We just wanted to give you updates on the project, kind of talk about the process, and certainly hear your questions,” Superintendent of Schools Richie Smith said. 

And townspeople had many questions, from failed Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) reimbursement funding from the Tisbury School project a few years ago to concerns that local tradespeople wouldn’t be included in the building process. One resident, who was particularly concerned about the project and raised questions of mal intent within the administration, ended up exiting the meeting to applause from other residents, as they disagreed with the opinions he voiced. 

The capital project will most likely be the most costly in the Island’s history, at an estimated $334 million total. It will be paid for through acceptance into the MSBA program, which partially reimburses school projects like this one, and a funding formula that assigns portions of the project to each town and its respective taxpayers. 

“This is a massive project,” one Aquinnah resident said, who didn’t identify himself at the meeting. “Are you stipulating anywhere … how much of the work has to be locally sourced?”

Mark Friedman, business administrator for MVRHS, said they’ll understand more about how many local people can be involved “when we get further into the process.” The building committee is tied by MSBA and state rules regarding labor, experience, and qualifications for hiring. 

Unless the project is voted down in an Island-wide vote and reimbursement funding (which would likely be around $100 million) is lost, the MSBA standards must be adhered to. That could mean the committee has to use off-Island contractors if Island-based companies don’t meet the requirements.

But he added, “If there are local firms that consist of those that qualify for these projects, that would be a priority for us.”

Another Aquinnah resident, Jamie O’Brien, brought up the Tisbury School building project. He was visibly upset about a letter that was co-written by committee chair Amy Houghton in 2021, where she said the Tisbury School had a “not-to-exceed” budget of $55 million. He pointed out that the cost of the project was much higher. 

“How on earth could a $55 million not-to-exceed budget, as you claimed, be true, and 15 months later you’re calling for a 15 percent increase?” O’Brien asked.

Houghton said there was not a construction manager at risk on the project at the time of the article, which is where some confusion arose. 

“You wrote publicly,” O’Brien said emphatically. “It was your words, not mine.”

The high cost of the Tisbury School building project and the budget overrun were largely due to the mere 21 “nay” votes by Tisbury residents that tanked around $30 million in reimbursement funding from the MSBA. Smith asked O’Brien and the rest of the room if they knew what a construction manager at risk’s role is in building projects like the Tisbury School and high school. 

When a few hands were raised, he explained that one of their duties is to create a “not-to-exceed” budget, where costs outside of that number are absorbed by the construction managers at risk themselves. It’s the standard procedure for projects like this one, he said. The Tisbury School was different, he said, due to the loss of reimbursement, not a discrepancy with funds. 

“We will have a not-to-exceed amount and an amount of reimbursement in February, so we should know the exact cost of the project,” he added.

This off-season is extremely significant for the committee to garner support, as residents will be voting on this project in the spring during an Island-wide vote at the polls, and many of the actionable steps, such as nailing down cost, prior to actual construction are scheduled for the coming months. 

The building project has been touted as a much-needed renovation and addition to a school that has mechanical issues, functionality deficiencies, and even poses a threat to the health of students from mold, leaks, and flooding, which are reportedly frequent. 

One Aquinnah resident urged the committee to reconsider the funding formula so that town residents would pay less, though the formula sees the up-Island town paying one of the lowest amounts, due to the smaller pool of enrolled students. 

Committee members said since the formula was drafted and voted on by representatives from each town, it would be up to them, not the school committee, to override that. 

“The schools did not create the funding formula. The towns did,” Smith pointed out. 

Aquinnah Select Board member Tom Murphy said he supported the current system. “The compromise of 2.4 [percent] at the time seemed reasonable,” he said, referencing the share of the cost that Aquinnah residents will be paying in line with a funding formula that was decided on in prior years. 

“It was a compromise … [but] without that compromise, there would be no agreement. Without that agreement, there’d be no $100 million of [MSBA] funding for this school. Without that $100 million, I believe there will not be a high school,” Murphy continued. 

But Aquinnah resident O’Brien disagreed, and spoke up about his discontent with the project cost. “This cost allocation is so out of whack,” he said. 

Smith then responded directly to O’Brien. He cited some letters he had seen, written by O’Brien, and to a previous meeting between the two of them. Smith said the school committee worked to lower the price of the project within the limitations (by lessening the square footage of the school and pursuing grant opportunities), and he didn’t appreciate O’Brien’s disregard for that process and the project as a whole. 

Smith addressed O’Brien directly: “Frankly, I’m insulted by some of the things you’ve written. You assume bad intent.” 

The superintendent looked out at the other residents in the room. “And that’s why I say to all of you: We don’t have any skin in the game besides our care of children.” Then he spoke directly to O’Brien. “You have no idea who I am,” he said. “You have no idea about my character. You have no idea that in 34 years of education, I’ve done my work because I adore kids and I want to support people,” Smith said. “We came here to actually balance the narrative … Why would we have a bad intent to try to push a project forward that we believe the children need?”

Many other Aquinnah residents agreed with Smith. One person yelled out, saying, “When Jamie [O’Brien] says ‘We,’ he’s not speaking for me.”

The room applauded loudly as O’Brien reportedly left, according to some in attendance. 

Updated to reflect accuracy.