Pittsfield Crosby/Conte Feasibility Years From Completion
PITTSFIELD, Mass.— If local approval is secured in the fall, the district will have 2 1/2 years to complete a feasibility study for the Crosby/Conte school project.
The eligibility period for Massachusetts School Building Authority funding begins on Feb. 3 and will conclude on Oct. 31 with a vote from the City Council. In that time, a number of boxes have to be checked off including enrollment studies and maintenance and capital planning.
Last week, the School Building Needs Commission accepted MSBA's letter of invitation for the eligibility period and a 270-day eligibility module. The timeline requires a school building committee that oversees the project formed by early April, making Pittsfield somewhat ahead of the game.
"This letter was received in pretty quick fashion after the board meeting on Friday, Dec. 13, where myself, Mayor [Peter] Marchetti, and other school and city officials attended and at that board meeting, they announced that they would be accepting our statement of interest into the 270-day eligibility period," Superintendent Joseph Curtis said.
He emphasized that this is not an invitation to conduct a feasibility study. A feasibility study agreement must occur within the eligibility period, establishing the process and parameters for reimbursement and giving 913 days for the study and schematic design.
The School Committee and City Council are set to vote on the funds for the study, about $1.5 million with 80 percent reimbursement, before Oct. 31.
The district is seeking funding for a combined build of Crosby Elementary School and Silvio O. Conte Community School at 517 West St. The invitation is for grades prekindergarten to 5 and the potential to examine the consolidation of Crosby with Conte and relocating fifth-grade students from the two elementary schools to the middle schools, serving prekindergarten to fourth grade.
Another option in the Crosby/Conte plan is the potential to house grades prekindergarten to first grade in one school and Grades 2 to 4 in another, with both maintaining their own identities and administrations.
"A big part of this, and it says right in their letter of invitation, is to make sure that you're providing the state the ability to ascertain that you are actually ready to move forward and be successful," said Greg Smolley of DRA Architects, who conducted a study of the district.
"They do not like to get behind projects that they don't feel have a chance of success so a lot of the advice at this point is to make sure that the community of Conte and Crosby is engaged, understands what's happening, that the communication with the public as a whole is focused on keeping this moving and making sure that everyone understands what those deadlines are."
Commissioner Judith Gitelson presented a petition with about 60 signatures requesting that any rebuild be net zero. She emphasized the importance of protecting students from greenhouse gas emissions and said a sustainable build would cost the same or less.
Smolley said MSBA is one of the best funding organizations for this.
"They encourage it. They're really pushing it," he said.
"The designers love it. You just need to know about it from the beginning when you're putting together your budget for the feasibility study and your budget for the project. You need to have this as something that you want to do but we're fortunate to live in a state with a school building authority that is really championing this."
At the beginning of the meeting, Berkshire Environmental Action Team Executive Director Jane Winn asked that when choosing a design team, passive house standards and an all-electric design be specified.
"This is now happening, especially in the eastern part of the state," she said.
"But we need a design team with experience in this type of building because once it's built, it will save so much money on heating and cooling."
Running parallel to the Crosby/Conte proposal is the efforts of the Middle School Restructuring Committee, which is expected to put recommendations in front of the School Committee next month. It has been researching grade spans and data outcomes, educational models for middle-year grade spans, and reviewing current district policies that will be affected by any grade span change.
While the proposal is not under the restructuring committee's purview, the efforts coincide.
"Recommendations could range from something specific to a delay in the timeline, additional study," Curtis told the committee on Monday.
He explained that the original intention of the restructuring was to coincide with the opening of the new building but the School Committee felt it needed to be researched and addressed sooner.
The Crosby/Conte build would not be expected to be completed until 2029.
Tags: Conte School, Crosby School, crosby/conte school project, MSBA,
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