Published in the October 3, 2019 edition.

By MARK SARDELLA

WAKEFIELD — An owner’s project manager (OPM) and a design consultant have been retained for the Greenwood School new roof project, which will be funded in part through the the Massachusetts School Building Authority’s accelerated repair program. The town got word in late June that the roof project had made the cut, but acceptance into the MSBA program only became official in the last couple of weeks.

Wakefield School Facilities Manager Bob Schiaroli told the School Committee last week that for projects like these, the MSBA assigns an OPM, as opposed to the town making the selection. PMA Consultants out of Braintree was assigned as the OPM for the Greenwood roof project. Gale Associates of Weymouth has been selected to create the schematic design for the project. School officials and members of the Permanent Building Committee met last week with representatives of PMA and Gale to begin discussing the project.

Schiaroli reminded the School Committee that MSBA will pick up approximately half of the cost of replacing the Greenwood School roof. The total cost has not been been determined yet, but it is projected to be in the range of $700,000 to $800,000.

There has also been talk of putting solar panels on the roof, if the new roof can bear the load. That cost would not be reimbursed by MSBA.

For now, the School Department will use $100,000 from its “Extraordinary Repairs Account” to fund the OPM and the schematic design. They will ask the Regular Town Meeting in November to reimburse that amount to the schools and to appropriate the town’s share of the roof cost.

Schiaroli said that the goal is to get the Greenwood School roof replacement project done next summer.

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The School Committee last week approved School Superintendent Douglas Lyons’ appointment of Margarita Perlin as the new nurse at Wakefield Memorial High School. Lyons said that Perlin is a Registered Nurse licensed by the state. She is also certified by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. She has recently held a position with the Swampscott school system.

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In other business last week, the School Committee:

• Voted to accept a donation of $766 from WMHS Field Hockey for a stipend to pay the assistant coach for the Fall 2019 season.

• Accepted a donation of $25,000 from from the Wakefield Education Foundation to be used for various equipment as needed in the district. (This is the fourth and final year of the $100,000.00 Cummings Grant awarded June 2016.)

• Voted to accept a donation of $518.98 from The Savings Bank for the Greenwood School Reading Specialist to use to purchase books and organizers.