As increased enrollment bears down on Hopkinton’s three schools, the school district is looking for voters to approve a multi-million dollar bond to give the facilities a facelift and expand learning space.
The $9.7 million bond has received unanimous support from the school board and passed the budget committee with a 6-3 positive recommendation. It is listed as the first article on the warrant that will come before voters at the school district’s annual meeting in March.
If approved, the project would add about $1.15 per $1,000 of assessed property value to the tax rate, or about $287 a year for a home worth $250,000.
Last year, the school district planned to submit a similar proposal to voters but with a much higher price tag to the tune of about $29 million. That figure faced resistance because of the cost and the project struggled to gain support, leading the school board to withdraw the plan and begin a year-long process of crafting a leaner option.
The steering committee behind the project surveyed the community last spring and found residents had a better appetite for a bond around $12 million.
“We understand the $29 million last year wasn’t possible,” Hopkinton Superintendent Steven Chamberlin said. “After a lot of work by (steering committee chairman) Jay (Burgess) and others to put this together. … The $9.7 million project has some very good and significant improvements for the kids.”
Chief among those improvements is adding class space to relieve the overcrowding through the district, most notably at Harold Martin, the lower elementary school that also offers preschool and kindergarten. About $3.2 million of the bond would be used to add four classrooms to the school, and $250,000 to expand office space.
Another priority is replacing the roofs on all three schools, which would cost about $2.69 million along with other deferred maintenance projects.
The science labs at the middle-high school would be renovated for about $1.96 million, and about $1.63 million would go toward security upgrades at all three schools.
The board cut several big-ticket projects from last year’s proposal to bring the price down. Among those cuts were the building of a STEM suite at the middle-high school and redesigning the entrances to both Harold Martin and Maple Street elementary schools.
More than 12 months after the school board decided to pull back on that plan, officials now hope this one is approved by voters and work can begin.
“It’s been a long time, and I’m glad March is coming,” Chamberlin said.
The district offered tours of Harold Martin School and the Hopkinton Middle-High school on Saturday at 8:30 and 9:30 a.m. Chamberlin walked taxpayers through areas were the proposed upgrades would take place.
The budget committee cut $350,000 from the school board’s budget. The board asked for a projection of how the cuts will affect the schoo
(Nick Stoico can be reached at 369-3321, nstoico@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @NickStoico.)