In 2018, Phase I of the master planning and visioning process regarding the structural, electrical, and mechanical analysis of the middle and high schools was completed. A subcommittee, which included Bridget Burkhardt, Martin LaLonde, Steve Wisloski, and Superintendent David Young along with former business managers John Stewart and John Aubin in supporting roles, worked hard on four interconnected tasks.

One of the objectives outlined in the board directive pertained to Phase I of the master planning and visioning process. Roberto Fitzgerald of Dore and Whittier gave a snapshot of the report to the board April 18, 2018; including the process, site and building assessment, capital improvement plan, and next steps.

A presentation of findings regarding the middle and high school facilities including cost estimates was given. The estimates were inclusive of design estimating and contingency, a soft cost allowance, and project costs; not construction costs alone.

You can view the presentation in the video above beginning at the 1:17:00 mark.

A Capital Improvement Plan was proposed by Dore and Whittier and provided recommendations for the improvements while considering the “Big Picture” budget. The plan bundled each recommendation into one of 6 categories; ranked in importance, including health, safety, and welfare, code compliance, handicap accessibility, maintenance/extending the life of the building, energy efficiency, and hazardous materials.

The Phase I final report from Dore and Whittier's facilities assessment was released April 24, 2018 and features detailed, illustrated information regarding the inner and outer structures of the middle and high schools.

Want the bullet points? Check out this two page summary. 

As Phase I concluded and Phase II began, a call for community participation  in a day long, facilitated meeting with Dore and Whittier was published online and in The Other Paper. The session took place November 7, 2018 at Trader Dukes. Participants explored how education has evolved over time and what a modern school could provide. A summary report of this session was created with intent to circle back to the 70 participants to solicit their feedback on configuration options and cost estimates in late March 2019.

Subsequent to this session, in mid-November, members of the master planning and visioning subcommittee along with administrators traveled to Massachusetts to visit several schools that have recently been updated and upon their return, the Shelburne Community School in Vermont. The group gleaned firsthand the impact an updated school structure can have on evolving methods of education delivery and learning.

Additionally, an executive summary of the planning tasks as directed by the school board was updated August 29, 2018.