"needs to fix critical problems"

By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

GHS

Posted Jun 27, 2008 @ 10:29 PM

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FRANKLIN —

After months of a stressful budget season and failed tax override attempt, the School Department finally received good news last week.

Assistant Superintendent of Schools Maureen Sabolinski announced the Massachusetts School Building Authority has invited the town to submit a letter of interest for a building project at Franklin High School.

The department had applied and was rejected two years ago, she said, and this is the first opportunity to reapply. The state did not give feedback explaining why it rejected the application, she said.

"We are very fortunate to get a second chance on potential state funding," said School Committee member Ed Cafasso.

"We need to come together as a community to seize this chance as quickly as possible. We are at a crossroads in terms of shaping the future of the high school. It's decision time. We owe it to the community to act decisively," said Cafasso.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

"we have a better chance of getting state aid if we scale it back"

By Rachel Lebeaux Globe Correspondent / June 8, 2008

The new high school in Franklin will not be a Taj Mahal project, if town officials can help it.

Mindful of the examples set by Newton and Wellesley, both criticized by a top state official for approving expensive high school projects, officials in Franklin are working with the state to find a less costly plan for updating the town's 37-year-old high school.

Days before a vote Tuesday on a proposed $2.8 million override of Proposition 2 1/2, meant to raise property taxes enough to prevent the loss of more than 40 teaching positions, officials also said they do not believe that taxpayers would foot the bill for a $100 million renovation of the high school or a new facility costing $130 million.

Those two options were put on the table by an architect earlier this year.

Read the full story in the Boston Sunday Globe here

The architect's presentation to the School Committee made in February can be found here

Boston Globe gets to the high school renovation

The Boston Globe Sunday edition of Globe West caught up to the FHS renovation or build a new school question, both of which are rather pricing. Yet, with a warning already we could loose the accreditation and jeopardize the plans for our students unless we do something.

The question is what? and for how much?

Read the Globe article here

In the news - FHS could cost big bucks

Franklin High renovation could near $100 million

By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

The School Committee was left in ``sticker shock'' last week after hearing the price of each option to repair or rebuild Franklin High School.

Kaestle Boos Associates presented three design options for renovating and adding to the building, with costs ranging from $93 to $100 million, and a fourth scenario to build a completely new school for $120 to $130 million.

The School Committee began discussions on repairing the high school in 2005, when the New England Association of Schools and Colleges issued its evaluation of the building, which called for major structural improvements. The association said the school, built in 1971, was not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the locker rooms were in disrepair, the floors needed to be fixed, and noted the lack of an auditorium, among other problems, said School Committee Chairman Jeffrey Roy.

Read the remainder of the article here.

You can also listen to the presentation and Q&A period from the School Committee meeting here.

Pictures from the FHS presentation

Option One - the new auditorium and science wing would be added to the right of the existing facility

Option Two - the auditorum would be added to the right (as in One) but the science wing would be added to the left

Option Three - the auditorum and entrance would be re-done up front, the science wing wold be added on the right and more would be done in the central sections of the building

This a rendering of what the new school would look like from the air above Oak Street for Option Three

This rendering depicts the new school option building on the left of the existing field house, coming into the tennis courts and baseball/softball fields (but not to the new track). The fields used in this new building option would be relocated to the space where the old building stands now (after it was torn down).

Franklin High School Renovation Alternatives (audio)

The presentation by Kaestle Boos on the options for renovating the existing building or building a new school around the existing field house.

Time: 13 minutes, 28 seconds



MP3 File