By now, most residents should be aware that on Sept. 9, we will be voting on whether to fund a proposed new consolidated middle school. The price tag for this project is currently estimated at about $151.5 million, with an MSBA grant of $53.7 million, meaning the residents of Longmeadow will be responsible for the $97.8 million balance. The impact of tariffs certainly has the potential to inflate these numbers.
While there is no debate that the town’s middle schools are in rough shape, there are numerous issues with the current proposal that make it impossible for us to support. First and foremost is the fact that Longmeadow has a long history of smaller, neighborhood schools that enhance our quality of life. This allows more students the opportunity to walk/bike to school and provides families living in the Glenbrook and Wolf Swamp area of town the benefit of a middle school in their neighborhood. With the proposed consolidated middle school, to be located in the Williams Middle School fields, many more students will now be forced to take the bus or have their parents drive them to school.
Another issue facing the residents in the Glenbrook/Wolf Swamp neighborhood is the effect this project will have on their property values. While maintaining an exceptional school system certainly helps to maintain or improve property values, when a neighborhood loses a local school, it actually hurts property values in those neighborhoods.
Anyone who has had to drop off or pick up their child from the Williams Middle School knows all too well that this is already a very busy part of town. With the high school, Williams Middle School, Blueberry Elementary School, the town’s only supermarket, and most of the town’s businesses, it’s a very busy area. Also, we get a lot of thru traffic heading to East Longmeadow, which makes Williams Street, Bliss Road, and Converse Street very busy roads. Bringing an additional 330 students to the WMS site will only exacerbate the situation and create safety issues for both students and pedestrians. The two traffic studies that have been done for this project highlight the traffic issues the town will be facing if the school is built.
The last thing I’ll bring up is the cost. This is the most expensive project that residents have ever been asked to support and will impact all of us for years. The town has a calculator on its website where you can determine the impact on your taxes. The average home in town ($500,000) will most likely see at least a $1,200 increase in their yearly property taxes. And the term of the bond will be 30 years. So, we have to ask ourselves, is the combined middle school in the best interest of the town. Can a comprehensive renovation of the schools be done for less money to maintain our neighborhood schools? Are we making Longmeadow unaffordable for its residents? Renovation not consolidation!
Bill and Terry DeGiulio
Longmeadow
