Published in the February 16, 2017 edition.
By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — The School Committee will fast-track its approval of a plan to address the space needs at the Walton School in hopes of getting the $5.5 million project on the May 1 Annual Town Meeting warrant. The Finance and Facilities Subcommittee will discuss the plan at its Feb. 27 meeting with the full School Committee expected to vote at its next meeting on Feb. 28 to recommend placing an article to fund it on the warrant.
At its meeting on Tuesday, the School Committee heard from Permanent Building Committee Chairman Joseph Bertrand who said that the PBC had endorsed the conceptual plan for the Walton designed by Tappe Architects, the same firm that designed the Galvin Middle School.
Bertrand introduced Chris Blessen from Tappe to go over the conceptual plan.
Blessen said that the plan would address the desire to bring kindergarten back to the Walton School and take care of other problems resulting from a current shortage of space at the school, including the need for rooms to serve multiple purposes resulting in lost instructional time during transitions.
Blessen said that the plan would also relocate the main entrance of the school and improve security.
The design, Blessen said, would create a multipurpose library space in the current building, freeing up a classroom. In addition, the proposal would demolish the modular classrooms on the site and replace them with a pre-engineered metal building that is structurally separated from the existing building. This addition would create a new gymnasium/cafeteria, kitchen, art classroom and bathrooms along with storage space.
The new building would also have a space that could be used as a “bubble” classroom, in the event of an unexpected future enrollment increase.
There would be some additional reconfiguration of the existing school building that would create a proper special education space and two kindergarten rooms, Blessen said, to go along with the grade 1-4 classrooms.
School Superintendent Dr. Kim Smith said that the design addressed all of the needs identified by the School Department. The inclusion of a library/media center would create equity with the other elementary schools, she said. The plan also gives the school nurse her own space, Smith observed, and gets kitchen and food service equipment out of the hallways by providing space for food service.
A new, full-size gym “is a real plus,” Smith said, that could also be divided and serve as a music space when needed. The design also provides for a better bathroom situation and overall better traffic flow, she noted.
School Transportation and Facilities Manager Maria Serrao added that the plan also includes safety and code upgrades, such as the installation of a fire sprinkler system.
Blessen said that the basic plan would provide all of those upgrades at an estimated cost of $5.3 million. Bertrand noted that some additional items that have been suggested, such as replacing aging boilers, would add to the cost (possibly as much as $400,000).
Smith noted that at the public forum held recently at the Walton, Town Administrator Stephen P. Maio said that the work could be paid for via bonding without the need for a Proposition 2 1/2 override. She said that Town Counsel Thomas Mullen would draft a Town Meeting article.
School Committee Chairman Greg Liakos noted that parents who attended the Walton forum reacted positively to the plan, a sentiment that he shared.
School Committee member Thomas Markham said that he also liked the plan, especially the creative use of the gym space. He said that he would favor including the additional work to the boilers, etc.
School Committee member Anne Danehy was also impressed with the plan. In response to a question, Bertrand assured her that playground space would not be impacted.
Liakos outlined the steps to getting the plan on the Town Meeting warrant. First it would go to the Finance and Facilities subcommittee before being voted at the Feb. 28 School Committee meeting, then on to the Board of Selectmen.
Bertrand stressed that the current plan was just a conceptual design and the final, detailed plan would be created only if Town Meeting votes on May 1 to approve the project.
In response to a question from Kim Smith, Bertrand said that there was room in the budget to take a look at the parking configuration at the school, adding that the budget had contingencies built into it.
Asked about a timeline for completing the project, Blessen said that an aggressive approach could get everything done in time for the school year beginning in the September of 2018. Bertrand, however, saw that as an overly optimistic estimate. He said that the fall of 2019 would be more realistic.
But he said that the Permanent Building Committee has agreed to be as aggressive as possible to get it done. He cautioned that there would be some inconveniences along the way.
