From left, Westfield Mayor Michael McCabe, School Committee members Bo Sullivan, Michael Tirrell and Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski.
Photo credit: Westfield Community TV
WESTFIELD — One week after the new Westfield River Elementary School opened to students, a straw poll taken by the School Committee after a lengthy discussion revealed that members unanimously support moving forward on a plan to build a comprehensive high school on the site of Westfield High School on Montgomery Street. The straw poll was an unofficial vote to gauge the opinion of committee members.
Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski raised the issue by informing the committee that the deadline to submit an application to the Massachusetts School Building Authority is April 11, and that he had received the application earlier the day of Jan. 13.
“If we were interested in applying this year … Some discussion needs to take place as to what path we want to take,” he said.
Czaporowski said he has previously shared the opportunities and economies in combining high schools, but said there is some concern from the Westfield Technical Academy about implementing the half day career technical education and half day academic model used by most comprehensive high schools.
“I like that for freshmen and sophomores, but would like to keep one week on and one week off for juniors and seniors in a hybrid model. I know we could do that,” Czaporowski said.
He said of the two schools, WTA is older and more in need of repair, but both schools need an upgrade.
“If we do apply, do we apply for WTA and when we talk about our educational mission, do we talk about blending the schools? The last time, we originally talked about replacing Franklin. Through the meetings, Abner Gibbs was added,” Czaporowski said.
Michael Tirrell, chair of the Facilities subcommittee, said city treasurer Matthew Barnes attended a recent meeting of both the subcommittee and the School Committee.
Barnes said the projected cost of a new high school was “way outside of the city’s capacity,” said Tirrell. “The funding source would almost certainly have to go to a vote to see if the citizens would like to take that funding on. Do we apply this time or not? If we do, what do we apply for — to replace WTA, WHS or both?”
Tirrell said if the answer is yes to apply, then the School Committee needs help from colleagues on the City Council to move forward in a unified fashion.
“The next logical step would be to call for a joint meeting of the School Committee and City Council to talk about timelines,” he said.
Czaporowski said when asked that the next application period would be April of next year. He also said the MSBA increased their reimbursement per square foot for construction, but funded fewer schools.
“MSBA only invited four schools last year into the core program for a new school. That jackpot is getting smaller and smaller,” he said.
Jeffrey Gunther said he would advocate strongly for applying this round.
“I feel clear that we’re going to need to do a debt exclusion whether this year, next year, five or 10 years from now,” he said, adding that he was “allied to the vision to combine both schools.”
Bo Sullivan said he also sees no reason not to apply this year. “It’s not going to get any cheaper. No way the city’s going to be able to foot this bill — eventually, it’s going to the citizens of Westfield,” he said, adding, “Students deserve the best education. Part of that is the building. My thought process is to move forward, take more input, and listen to people.”
Mayor Michael McCabe, de facto chair of the School Committee, said he has been in favor of a comprehensive high school using the current gym and pool as the west anchor and building the school west to east, but said he is unsure in the current climate how it will be received.
McCabe said in November, the City Council asked him to return $1 million in free cash, because people couldn’t afford it, saving them on average $70 a year. He said Public Works was too short-staffed to do leaf pickup in the fall, and the Water Department is in deficit due to not enough funding in the Enterprise Fund, for which the only solution is to raise the rates to water consumers.
“Don’t lose track that the police station will be up for bonding the first of March,” he added.
“I would be cautious about moving it forward. I’m fully in favor, but don’t know if I agree with Dr. Gunther about the timing. We’re facing a deficit budget in 2026. Do we want to move it forward now,” McCabe said.
Timothy O’Connor, who was elected vice chair of the School Committee at the start of the meeting, said he didn’t think they were ready.
“We don’t even know if everyone wants a comprehensive high school in this room,” he said before the straw poll was taken. “Let’s meet with the City Council and get their involvement. I don’t think we’re ready… When we go and put our application in before the MSBA, we have to have our ‘ducks in a row.’ “
While adding that the cost of a new school will keep increasing, Tirrell said, “If we’re truly serious about doing this in the next year or two years, we should start today. If we miss the deadline, then we miss the deadline. Let’s proceed like we’re doing this right now.”
Czaporowski said, “We have to make a decision. Do we want a comprehensive school, or two separate high schools.”
He said the state is grappling with a shortage of CTE seats. “If we put forward a proposal that adds more seats, it will be viewed more favorably.”
A straw poll showed that everyone on the School Committee favors a comprehensive high school on the site of WHS.
Tirrell repeated that the School Committee needs the support of the City Council.
“It doesn’t matter what we think, it matters what the City Council thinks. If we don’t have the support of the City Council who is going to ultimately move it forward, it’s not going to go anywhere,” he said.
After further discussion, McCabe tentatively called for a special meeting of the School Committee and City Council on Jan. 29 at 6 p.m. He said he would send a letter to the Council with the request.
