Office Hours: This Saturday November 1st from 10 am to noon join me, Ward 5 City Councilor Naima Sait, representative Erika Uyterhoeven, and Senator Pat Jehlen for Office Hours at Zaruma Gold at 37 Woodbine Street.
Happy Autumn! I am sharing my thoughts on Ballot Question 1 (vote yes!), asking for your continued support on election day, and exploring the complex decision regarding the New School for Somerville, including the process and tradeoffs.
Vote Yes on Ballot Question 1: A New Charter for the City of Somerville:
Please vote yes on Ballot Question One on Tuesday November 4th. Information can be found on the the City and the "Yes on One" Committee websites. In short, the Charter is like a constitution for the City, outlining the organization and structure of the city government and Somerville has not had a wholesale charter update since 1899. In addition to being rewritten in accessible language, the new proposed charter increases checks and balances between the Mayor and City Council, mandates more community input in the budget process and creates a pathway to ranked choice voting. For those concerned that this update is not enough, the good news is the new charter requires a review of the Charter every ten years creating an opportunity to make future changes.
I was a member of the charter review committee, which included many members of the community and city staff and I am proud of the work done to create a new charter that better reflects the needs and interests of our City and sets Somerville up to evolve in the future. I encourage you to read more about he proposed charter and please reach out if you have any questions.
Laura Pitone for Ward 5 School Committee:
Thank you for your support over the last nearly twelve years that I have served as the representative for Ward 5 on the School Committee. I am honored to be on the ballot this November for another term. Thank you for considering me, Laura Pitone, as you cast your ballot on November 4nd.
A New School Building for Somerville:
You have likely heard that Somerville is creating plans for a new PK-8 school building, supported by state funding, and efforts to define the scope and location of the new school are ongoing. This is incredibly exciting and these decision are complicated because Somerville has two school buildings that need to be addressed, the Winter Hill Community Innovation School (WHCIS) and the Brown School. Although the state (via the MSBA or Massachusetts School Building Authority) has only agreed to fund one school (WHCIS), it has offered to fund one larger school to house the student population of both schools. A single larger school would address the facility issues but creates new challenges and concerns, including the dissolution of two beloved school communities. The City has a choice to make and my goal is to share the facts, as I understand them.
PROCESS & DECISION MAKING: The Construction Advisory Group (CAG) was created to advise the Mayor and the MSBA School Building Committee (the body charged to oversee and manage the school building project) on this complex choice. The CAG is a committee composed of parents from several schools, elected officials and community members. The CAG has dedicated a great deal of time and energy over the last ten months considering research and input from the school district, the city staff and the community-at-large, including a city-wide survey and focus groups, the results of which have been recently published by the city.
The CAG is expected to share their recommendation later in November. Although the MSBA Building Committee is the overall decision maker, the mayor's support is necessary to build a new building in the same way voters' support for funding the building is required (through a future ballot measure considering a debt exclusion and associated increases in property taxes.) I have been told the Mayors (current and future) will confer and weigh in at the end of the year or early in January.
CONSIDERATIONS: For context, the state covers approximately 50% of the building cost for projects accepted in the MSBA process, the rest is footed by Somerville taxpayers. With that state funding, it is estimated that the city will be responsible for ~100 Million dollars to fund a new school. Financial data was sourced from this presentation by the city to the CAG on Construction costs and Debt Projection for project options.
I view the options through several priorities - the safety of our students and staff, the accessibility of our schools, the impact on student learning (or outcomes), parent choice and the costs (financial and otherwise). The district shared research on how different school characteristics impact student outcomes. It considered the impact of an increased distance to school (neutral), increased student diversity (positive), more large spaces (positive), and of a larger school (mid-size optimal, benefits erode for smaller and larger). Without getting into too much detail, the current total student population of the Brown is 250 the WHCIS is 400. However the MSBA is offering to build a school to accommodate from 675 (replace WHCIS, higher end of "mid-sized") to 925 (for combined school, considered "larger").
CONCLUSION & TRADEOFFS: The only two school solution that would address these priorities requires the City to commit to upgrading the Brown school, addressing ADA compliance and creating capacity to provide student services such as Special Education in dedicated spaces, as well as adding large common spaces to increase access and equity. This would necessitate a temporary relocation of the students and is predicted to consume most of the current outdoor space.
The two school and single school options both have trade-offs, beyond sustaining or eliminating two long established communities. A single school would create the largest school in the district while increasing accessibility and opportunities for inclusion and reducing operating costs. Two schools would sustain parent choice (small school option) and increase accessibility while dramatically eroding outdoor space.
Financially, the city estimates that sustaining two schools (new WHCIS and upgrading the Brown) would cost an additional 57 to 67 Million dollars as compared to building a single larger school for both populations. When the community survey was issued these updated costs estimates had not been shared with the public.
The city must decide if the tradeoffs associated with a single larger school are too large or if maintaining the two school communities, including upgrading the Brown School, is worth the additional costs, financial or otherwise. Although these are not easy choices, it won't cloud the excitement and pride I have for building a new PK-8 school building. I am also thankful to members of the CAG for their dedication to this challenging work and encourage people to reach out to members of the CAG (or me) if you want to share additional thoughts on this complicated decision.
Contact me if you have any questions, concerns or ideas: [email protected]. I am happy to meet up, schedule a call or correspond over email. For more frequent updates follow or like my Laura Pitone Ward 5 School Committee Facebook Page.
Laura Pitone, Ward 5 School Committee
https://www.laurapitone.com/
