Area Legislators Call for Stoneham Voters to Approve Middle School Project

Check out their opinion piece on the estimated $40 million building project.

[Editor's note: The following opinion piece is from the offices of Sen. Katherine Clark and State Reps. Jason Lewis and James Dwyer.] Next week Stoneham residents have a unique opportunity to support a partnership between the town and the state that will strengthen the community and its school system for years to come.  On April 3, during the municipal elections, we encourage you to vote in favor of the debt exclusion override that will fund Stoneham’s share of the construction cost to build a new middle school.  The middle school project has been in development for many years and represents the hard work and dedication of many members of the Stoneham community. The Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) has worked closely with the…

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Voters Approve Putting Stoneham Middle School Project on April Ballot at Special Town Meeting

Find out what else happened during the Tuesday night session at Town Hall.

With 482 people in attendance at a Special Town Meeting Tuesday night at a packed Town Hall Auditorium, voters approved putting the Stoneham Middle School project warrant article on the April 3 Town Ballot. Article 1, which asks voters to approve funding the estimated $40 million Middle School project proposed to be built as an addition to the existing Central Elementary School to house 775 students in grades 5-8, was approved by a two-thirds majority vote. It appeared a dozen or so people voted in opposition to the project. Prior to the voting, longtime resident Paul Means spoke favorably about the project. "Can we afford not to build this school?" asked Means. "The answer to that question is no. We need this school for financial and …

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Will the Stoneham Middle School Project Get the Green Light from Voters? [PHOTOS]

Residents will decide whether they want to fund the plan at a Special Town Meeting on Feb. 7.

While the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) has already approved reimbursing Stoneham more than half of the total cost to construct the proposed Middle School, voters will decide whether to put the project on the April 3 Ballot at a Special Town Meeting on Feb. 7. The School Building Committee is seeking Special Town Meeting authorization from voters for the estimated $40 million project. If our recent poll on what should be the town's top priority in 2012 is any indication of voter sentiment, the Middle School project might get the support it needs on Feb. 7, as it garnered 43 percent of the votes to top the list. On Jan. 25, the MSBA approved reimbursing the town 57.5 percent for the school construction project, according to…

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School Building Committee Updates Selectmen on Stoneham Middle School Plan

The Stoneham Board of Selectmen recently discussed the Middle School project with School Building Committee chairperson Jeanne Craigie and Superintendent Les Olson.

School Building Committee Ready to go Before MSBA For the past 19 months, the School Building Committee have been working on plans for a new Stoneham Middle School. The Committee went before the Selectmen Tuesday night to announce that they are one step closer to realizing the construction of the new Middle School as they have a date set to go before the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) for final approval on Jan. 25, 2012. "The State and MSBA are very happy with our grade configurations and upcoming redistricting. We will still have neighborhood schools, these areas will just be larger,” Craigie said. "We are pretty sure the state reimbursement will be as much as we can get at 57 percent." Superintendent Les Olson took the …

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Three Stoneham Elementary Schools to Receive $1.2M in Expedited Payments from MSBA

Colonial Park, Robin Hood and South Elementary Schools will receive the accelerated funding as part of the Massachusetts School Building Authority's plan to expedite more than $200 million to 126 municipalities and regional school districts for school bui

The Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) has expedited more than $200 million in payments to 126 municipalities and regional school districts for school building projects, including three Stoneham schools, according to a press statement issued by the MSBA. The MSBA will be providing more than $1.2 million in accelerated payments for Stoneham school building projects that were approved under the former school building assistance program administered by the Department of Education. Colonial Park ($369,137), Robin Hood (468,867) and South Elementary Schools ($368,934) will be the beneficiaries of the expedited payments. The payments will be made six months ahead of schedule. The accelerated payments are intended to assist …

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New Stoneham Middle School Plans Set For MSBA Approval

Representatives of the project management and architectural firms tasked with designing the new school met with the Stoneham School Building Committee Monday night.

Recently submitted plans for the construction of a new Stoneham Middle School are on track to be approved by the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA). Jeffrey Luxenberg and David Krawitz of Joslin, Lesser + Associates, Inc., the project management firm tasked with facilitating the project, and Charles Hay of Tappé Associates, Inc., the architectural firm assigned to the project, met with members of the Stoneham School Building Committee Monday night at Stoneham High School to discuss their next moves. A meeting with the MSBA Facilities Sub-Committee is scheduled Wednesday, and a meeting with the MSBA Board is planned for Sept. 28 for final approval. Krawitz said that he didn’t expect any problems. “We believe we’re on track for a…

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School Building Committee Talks New Middle School

The Stoneham Building Committee met Monday night to talk about moving forward with their proposal to the Massachusetts School Building Authority for a new 5-8 grade middle school.

Big changes could be on the horizon for Stoneham students in the fifth through eighth grade. The Stoneham School Building Committee continued discussions concerning the creation of a new 5-8 grade middle school that would be constructed roughly 50 feet back and partially on the grounds of the current Stoneham Middle School. The Building Committee has recently met with MSBA (Massachusetts School Building Authority) officials and discussed the project. This Friday, the Board will bring schematics and a full proposal to the MSBA that includes information on the overall education program at the newly proposed school, budgetary information, site development strategy, cost estimates, and other building and construction fundamentals. “This is a …

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Patch Facts

MSBA OKs Stoneham Middle School Feasibility Study

The Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) recently announced that it has invited the Stoneham Middle School to do a more extensive Feasibility Study than previously planned, according to a press statement.

The Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) recently announced that it has invited the Stoneham Middle School to do a more extensive Feasibility Study than previously planned, according to a press statement. The Middle School project is being moved from the MSBA’s repair category, and Stoneham and the MSBA will work collaboratively to study potential solutions to the problems identified in the district’s Statement of Interest.   “We are committed to working with Stoneham to find the most economical solution to the problems at the (Stoneham) Middle School so that the children of Stoneham can grow and learn in an educationally appropriate and safe facility,” said State Treasurer Steven Grossman. “This Feasibility Study will examine …

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Jeanne Craigie Takes the Lead on School Building Committee

The veteran School Committee member is now on point for the proposed Stoneham Middle School building project.

The proposed Middle School project appears to have a new point person as Stoneham School Committee member Jeanne Craigie was tabbed chairperson of the Stoneham School Building Committee at its last meeting earlier this month. Craigie takes the reins from Peter D’Angelo, who also served on the Finance and Advisory Board for 25 years before stepping down from that post in 2004. “(Peter) resigned due to personal reasons,” Craigie said. “I learned a great deal from him, and consider him a mentor and a friend.” Holding a spot on the School Committee from 1989-2002 and again from 2009 to the present, Craigie hopes to use her past experience guiding previous construction projects such as those at South Elementary School in 2000 and the Central …

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