Wahconah School Building Committee Sets Guided Tour
DALTON, Mass. — A guided tour of Wahconah Regional High School is being set for this Saturday morning, Jan. 7, to give the community an understanding of the needs and limitations of the 55-year-old building.
The school was invited by the Massachusetts School Building Authority in July to enter the agency's eligibility phase. During this phase, the Central Berkshire Regional School District will vote on funding a feasibility study that will recommend a long-term solution for the school building.
If the study is approved when the seven towns of the district vote in the spring, the MSBA will provide a percentage of the funding.
The school district is seeking to replace or renovate the 118,179 square foot facility on Old Windsor Road. In its statement of interest submitted to the MSBA, the school district cites inefficient windows, outdated lighting, the presence of asbestos in flooring, pipe insulation and roofing, water infiltration, inadequate air exchanges, obsolete heating systems, insufficient electrical systems, limited handicapped accessibility and a lack of sprinklers.
Wahconah was constructed to hold 650 students but during the population boom of the 1960s and '70s, held more than double that number. Two portable classrooms — still in use — were added and another five classrooms.
The school currently enrolls about 550 students in Grades 9 through 12. However, school officials say the building is limited in being able to provide a suitable environment for learning. Specifically, the SOI notes that the art studio and music rooms are undersized, computer use is curtailed by the electrical load, the library's size and configuration limits use, some physical education classes are being taught in hallways, and only one science laboratory is "fully functional."
Classroom sizes and uses limits contemporary programs ranging from special education to health and counseling. Locker rooms are inadequate and in violation of Title IX equity issues. About 77,000 square feet of the school is used for educational services.
"Although the facility was constructed to accommodate an enrollment larger than the enrollment today, there is now inadequate space at Wahconah for existing programming," the letter states. "This apparent anomaly is attributable to a result of federal & state program requirements, especially in special education (which did not exist as a mandate in 1961) and Title IX, as well as recommended square footage minima."
Recent repairs to Wahconah include modernization of the front entrance in 2014; renovation of the sole science lab and replacement of furniture, lockers and interior door locks, floor refinishing, and fiber optics, public address and electrical upgrades in certain areas in 2008. The bond issue for the 2008 upgrades also financed a feasibility study and design for the parking lots and access roads, a 10,000 square foot addition to the athletic spaces and a complete renovation of the educational portions of the building.
Wahconah educates students from the towns of Becket, Dalton, Hinsdale, Peru, Washington and Windsor and of Cummington in Hampshire County.
The Wahconah School Building Committee is sponsoring the tour on Saturday at 10 a.m. The guides will be Principal Aaron Robb and other district staff members. The tour is expected to last approximately 90 minutes. Child care will be provided.
You can also take a virtual tour of the high school here.
Tags: MSBA, school building committee, school tour, Wahconah,
