The state Department of Education will share its ranked list of school districts who will be prioritized for building aid in 2024 and 2025 on Thursday, a decision that will impact the future of Concord’s Rundlett Middle School building project.
The state’s school building aid program reimburses a portion of a district’s construction costs. The Department of Education creates a ranked list of school districts that will get priority for funding if it is approved in the state budget. The list will be presented to the State Board of Education at its Thursday meeting in Nashua, the Department of Education said Friday. Districts will be able to log in and see the results on the website.
The Concord School Board is responsible for deciding how to move forward after learning the results of the building aid decision, according to Superintendent Kathleen Murphy.
“We’re going to hopefully get a sneak peek on the 10th and see where we stand,” Murphy said Fri day.
Concord School District submitted an application for state building aid for the Rundlett Middle School building project over the summer, seeking aid for the 2024-2025 fiscal year. In the application, Concord officials estimated their total project cost to be $176.2 million. They are requesting $70.4 million from the state in building aid, which would have the state funding 40% of their total costs. Aid rates are based on a town’s median family income and equalized valuation per pupil.
The district didn’t name a chosen building location in the application, but cited two options it was considering: the current middle school site on South Street and a parcel on Clinton Street owned by CenterPoint Church. About a month ago, the CenterPoint congregation voted not to move forward with selling the Clinton Street land to the district.
Representatives from the state visited the current Rundlett building to do a walkthrough in September.
Concord is one of 15 districts applying for building aid this round, and their project is one of 17 proposed projects. Concord’s is the most expensive – the other applicants’ projects range in price from $2 million to build a secure entryway in Monroe to $75 million to build a new elementary school in Derry.
Among the other applicants, Kearsarge Regional High School is applying for funds to renovate its science and technology wing.