WILBRAHAM — The Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District School Committee voted to withdraw Wilbraham Middle School from the Massachusetts School Building Authority’s accelerated repair program and submit a state of interest in applying for the MSBA’s core program in its meeting on Dec. 18.
The decision comes after a month of deliberating plans within the committee and with the Wilbraham Select Board and Hampden Selectboard, who have both sent letters of support on the decision, after Committee member Michael Tirabassi and Superintendent John Provost initially researched the core program and how it aligns more with the repair needs at the middle school.
Hampden Selectboard’s letter of support comes with a clause, requiring the committee to submit a comprehensive five-year plan, detailing what can be done for the middle school in the meantime on the chance they’re invited into the core program.
It said, “it is unfair to the students, faculty and staff of Wilbraham Middle School, as well as irresponsible to delay taking further steps to mitigate the many issues impacting the health, safety and education of our Wilbraham and Hampden students.”
The Wilbraham Select Board said in its letter that it “recognizes there are complex issues with the middle school that need attention and mitigation during the MSBA core process.”
Committee member Sean Kennedy said the committee needs to have a plan right now. He said he always thought the plan was to move as many eighth grade students as they could to Minnechaug Regional High School, encouraged through attending an Innovation Career Pathways program. The program is designed to expose students to work in high-demand industries to prepare them for life after graduation.
“That would free up space, when I talked to [Principal] John Derosia, he said the number one thing we need is space,” Kennedy said. “Number two, security, number three, health. Health is the air, health is the asbestos floor tilings coming up.”
Tirabassi said the plan involved a number of capital items for the middle school, including mediation for the asbestos flooring and repair of the doors. He said one of the things the Hampden Selectboard made clear was it did not want the school neglected because of how long the core program may take.
“The plan is to move forward with doing repairs in the middle school building,” Tirabassi said. “The plan is not to replace all the windows or the doors, but to repair doors and repair floors. I believe there’s also capital projects on the list in regards to air handlers.”
Tirabassi said moving eighth graders into the high school would have never been a long-term solution, considering the New England School Development Council’s 10 year projections that said the number of Wilbraham Middle School students will rise from 569 to 773.
“The problems in the school are serious,” Tirabassi said. “I would love to go back 10 years in time. I think we’re behind the eight ball, I think this should have been done a long time ago. I don’t think that the fact that it wasn’t done 10 years ago is a reason to not do it now. We can only look at where we are now and come up with our best plan going forward.”
Kennedy interrupted and said the doors and windows have been an issue every single year, and Tirabassi said the committee doesn’t have the information to know if the building is even salvageable or usable for 30 years. He said if Wilbraham went in on replacing the windows and doors with the accelerated repair program, it is making a commitment to use that building for 30 years.
Committee member Timothy Collins said his understanding is that the people from the MSBA have the knowledge and expertise needed before making a plan.
“We need to know, is the building salvageable? Are the grounds stable enough to support an addition to the building, because we need additional space,” Collins said. “I have seen buildings older than that be renovated and added to through the core program, and it’s like having a brand new building, but you don’t know that until the experts go in and do an assessment of what the building is standing on.”
Collins said his number one concern when elected was to fix the middle school because the “kids in both towns deserve to be in a middle school that’s up to date.” He added that if Wilbraham wants to compete with surrounding towns and have residents move in, the reputation of the school district needs to be high. He said he does not want to hesitate another minute.
Chair Michal Boudreau said that if the school were invited into the core program, the building will be maintained and the committee will make sure it is doing everything it can while change is happening.
“Everyone is committed to make sure the students are being educated in a safe, healthy environment and the teachers are in proper working conditions,” Boudreau said.
