The City Council on Tuesday unanimously gave Superintendent Joseph Curtis the green light for the SOI to the Massachusetts School Building Authority by April 12.
The School Department sees an opportunity to rebuild two insufficient schools on one site with shared facilities — now it needs support from the School Committee and City Council.
The Massachusetts School Building Authority's board unanimously approved the school district's preliminary plans on Dec. 13 and has invited it into the next module: preferred schematic design.
The School Committee and the building committee on Tuesday voted aye — with several "resounding" yeses — to move forward with a new build. The other options were an addition/renovation at Greylock or a renovation at Brayton Elementary.
That recommendation will be taken up by the full School Committee on Oct. 17 in anticipation of a submission of the city's preferred option to the Massachusetts School Building Commission's Facilities Assessment subcommittee.
The School Building Committee has some important dates coming up as it determines which school project will be submitted for approval to the Massachusetts School Building Authority.
The School Building Committee had a bit of sticker shock on Tuesday when the range for a renovation or new school construction topped out at $90 million.
The consultants on the project updated the School Building Committee on those factors on Tuesday and Matthew Sturz of owner's project manager Colliers International reviewed the timeline and budget to date.
Among the takeaways is the importance of "agile" and flexible classrooms, security, outdoor connectivity, professional space, welcoming arrivals and breakout areas.
The final bill to Williamstown and Lanesborough for the construction project at Mount Greylock Regional School came in at $33 million, according to a final audit presented to the School Committee on Thursday evening.
The mayor made the comments during Tuesday's School Building Committee, during which it unanimously voted to go with TSKP Studio as the designer for the Brayton/Greylock school project.