MSBA INVITES AMHERST BACK INTO FUNDING PIPELINE

After one unsuccessful attempt, Amherst has been invited back into the process for state funding to help pay for an elementary school building project. On Wednesday, December 11th, the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) Board of Directors authorized an invitation to Amherst into the MSBA’s “Eligibility Period” — the first phase of their grant process — for Fort River Elementary School, which was identified as the priority school in Amherst’s Statements of Interest. 

Of the 11 school districts that were invited in this round, five of the school buildings are rated by the MSBA as being in better condition than both Wildwood and Fort River, with the remainder being in similar shape. Three eligible districts with schools rated in worse condition were not invited into the program this year, suggesting that factors other than the physical condition of a school are at play in MSBA decision-making. Amherst had applied last year but was unsuccessful, while districts rated in better condition than Fort River or Wildwood were invited into the process. The MSBA reportedly informed Superintendent Michael Morris at that time that, although they believed the schools were deserving of state support, they felt the Town was not ready to proceed with a project. 

Earlier this year, in an effort to make progress before submitting a new application, Morris presented a “consensus framework” that proposed replacing both schools with one building of around 600 students in a K-5 or K-6 grade configuration. Both the number of students (750) and the grade configuration (PreK-1; 2-6) had been key points of contention in the previous project, which failed to secure the necessary two-thirds support in 2017.

During the MSBA’s Eligibility Period, the District will need to complete specific requirements within 270 days. These include forming a School Building Committee, completing an enrollment projection, providing maintenance documents, certifying a design enrollment for the proposed project and authorizing funding for a feasibility study. Since this is Amherst’s second school building project, it is likely the Town will not be reimbursed for the feasibility study phase, which cost about $800,000 for the previous project. The next feasibility study should cost less because much of the existing conditions work has been done for both the sites and buildings at Fort River and Wildwood. 

Much remains undecided about the new school project. This school year, the combined enrollment at Wildwood and Fort River schools is 713 students; hence, some plan must be made for where the ‘extra’ kids would go if the proposed project were to remain a 600-student building to replace both schools. Morris has suggested two possible paths: moving Amherst’s sixth grade (approximately 150 students) to the Middle School or expanding Crocker Farm. The MSBA process will also require analysis of a building project that maintains the current three-school elementary configuration (i.e., replacing Fort River as one of three elementary schools in the district).

The “Grade Span Advisory Board,” made up of district employees and community members, is working to develop models for educating students in grades 6-8 at Amherst Regional Middle School. A presentation of the Board’s findings is expected in late January 2020. According to Morris, a decision on the grade configuration change would not be made until next fall or winter. In response to community concerns raised at a public forum on the schools on November 25th, Amherst School Committee member, Eric Nakajima, asked Morris if this timeline could impact the MSBA process. Morris responded that he would provide more detail at their December 17th meeting, if the MSBA application was successful.

A study of expansion possibilities at Crocker Farm was funded in this year’s budget but has not yet begun. In response to a request for proposals, two bids were received, and a small group appointed by Town Manager Paul Bockelman will meet next week to begin reviewing them. It is anticipated that a report would be ready sometime in April, 2020. This report will help rule in or out options for addressing the elementary schools by exploring what level of renovation/addition would be required at Crocker Farm in each scenario, and at what cost.

One option that the Crocker Farm study will explore is expanding that school’s enrollment from 350 to 480 students, potentially creating two equally-sized K-5 schools. This option would also require moving sixth grade into the Middle School, and building or renovating Fort River or Wildwood to accommodate approximately 480 students. Wildwood’s current enrollment is 386 while Fort River has 327 students. The highest K-6 enrollment Crocker Farm has had was 370 students in 2013. 

Presumably, the School District will put out a request for School Building Committee members in the near future. One strength of the Fort River School Building Committee, which completed their work in September, was that it included members with very diverse views, arguably leading to a better report. With three other major capital projects competing for limited town funds, and many other financial demands on the Town, the new School Building Committee will need to control overall budget costs while working to produce a plan that has broad support in the community. It is currently anticipated that a debt exclusion override will again be sought in order to allow the town to afford the project while also pursuing other much-needed large capital projects.