Many school districts throughout Western Massachusetts have seen their respective buildings begin to reach their expiration date causing them to either renovate or construct a new building.
With the cost of pretty much everything increasing nowadays, the same goes for the cost of construction for fixing a school.
That is where a partnership with the Massachusetts School Building Authority, or MSBA, can help with the process. It was created to work with communities to create affordable, sustainable and energy efficient schools.
After submitting a statement of interest and meeting of the requirements for acceptance, the process itself can take five to seven years including different phases such as eligibility, feasibility, schematic designs, funding and construction but MSBA has a reimbursement program to help offset some of the costs associated with the process.
A total of 308 projects have received invitations from the MSBA Board of Directors to collaborate with the MSBA.
MSBA Administration and Operations Director Matt Donovan said the amount of requests MSBA receives each year has remained pretty consistent.
He added, “We get a steady amount of requests in every year. We get about between 100 and 130 requests between our two different programs. Between the core which is mainly addition, renovation, new and then the accelerated repair which is windows and roofs.”
There are currently 161 Core Program projects and 147 Accelerated Repair Program projects.
Fifty-eight projects are in the early phase of the grant program and have not yet secured funding authorizations for the full project. Forty-five projects have secured full project funding and are in design development or construction, and 58 projects are in building complete, closeout, or final audit approved phases.
There are 23 districts in eligibility period and three of those districts have secured their local funding.
Donovan explained that the process may take a while but it is important to work with each community directly to ensure that each of their needs are fulfilled.
“We have over 300 projects in our pipeline but with over 300 projects comes different needs and different scopes and different projects. What works for one may not work for all,” he added.
Through its “pay-as-you-build” Progress Payment System, the MSBA reimburses districts for eligible project costs during construction.
The reimbursement formula starts all districts at a Base Rate of 31 reimbursement points and can be adjusted based on community income factor, community property wealth factor and community poverty factor.
The district is also reviewed for additional incentive points but cannot exceed 18 incentive points.
In its history, it has made more than $17.1 billion in reimbursements to school districts.
Donovan said MSBA works effortlessly with each respective school throughout the process to help them achieve the completion of their project with funding assistance.
He added, “We lay it out. We walk hand in hand with the school districts so by [the] time we come to this solution of what the project is going to be and everyone knows what we’re going to pay and everyone knows what the local contribution is going to be.”
A new change to MSBA has been an update to its Green School Program as of June 2023. This new policy affects all new construction and major renovation/addition Core Program projects requesting preferred schematic approval.
Donovan said, “We’re trying to keep up with the trends of any sort of green initiative in the state. We work with all of our partners and constituent groups to kind of figure out what are the needs and the right fit for any and all districts. It’s all trying to fit in what is the most cost-effective solution for any school district is going to be.”
MSBA also had its annual cap increased due to Gov. Marua Healey signing a $55.9 billion budget in August 2023 that increased the cap to $1.2 billion for fiscal year 2023, removed grant amounts related to the Accelerated Repair Program from the MSBA’s Annual Cap beginning in FY23, and increased the allowable rate of growth in the Annual Cap from up to 4.5% to up to 6.5%.
These changes provided additional resources and flexibility and allowed the MSBA to implement a one-time higher than anticipated increase to project funding limits while restoring the level of invitations into the Core Grant Program to levels seen in previous years.
For example, the East Longmeadow High School project saw its MSBA grant increase from approximately $61 million to $80 million based on the new cost per square foot increases and statutorily reimbursement of projects at 31% to 80% of eligible project costs.
Many school districts within Western Massachusetts have either gone through or are currently going through the MSBA process to renovate or build a new school.
Places like Granby, Belchertown, Chicopee, South Hadley, Holyoke, Agawam and East Longmeadow are just a few that are currently going through different stages of the MSBA process.
For the construction of these projects to be approved, residents must vote “yes” at an election and then “yes” again at Town Meeting.
In some towns, voters must agree to a “debt exclusion” to allow the town or city to secure the bonds for the project.
A debt exclusion is a temporary increase in property taxes to pay for a specific debt or capital expense, such as a building construction project. A debt exclusion is not permanent. When the project has been paid for, the temporary increase in property taxes will be revoked and taxes reduced.
Belchertown Jabish Middle School project
Looking at costs, Belchertown proposed to build a new middle school to replace Jabish Brook Middle School.
The proposed plan was to close the Cold Spring School and build a new one that would hold 475 students in grades 6 through 8.
The estimated budget for this project is $122.6 million. Based on the funding formula and reimbursement caps, it is estimated that the MSBA grant would be $47.9 million, leaving a local share of approximately $74.6 million.
Based on the table showing the assessed home value and the estimated annual tax increase, the potential tax impact of borrowing $76 million for 30 years at 4.5% interest for assessed values of homes in Belchertown, would have created an estimated annual tax increase of $815.
Belchertown residents recently voted “no” to the project with 2,539 voters against the project and only 1,548 voters for it.
The town will now have to look at other options for the 60-year-old building.
Jabish Brook Building Committee Chair Heidi Gutekenst told Reminder Publishing that if the town decided to pursue any further renovation or construction projects at the Jabish Brook property, then it would under the oversight of the Select Board.
With the vote’s rejection of the MSBA-reimbursed project, the town will have to wait until the agency is accepting applications again before another project could be potentially submitted. A base repair of the middle school without state funding assistance would cost the town an estimated $88 million.
Holyoke William R. Peck Middle School project
Holyoke community leaders recently gathered in March to break ground on their new middle school building and followed up with a “topping off” ceremony on June 24.
The two-story, 107,475-square-foot middle school will house 550 students in grades six to eight and is expected to open fall 2025.
Originally approved in June 2023, the $85.5 million project was approved by the city and MSBA. The city will be reimbursed at least $46 million, leaving the city responsible for approximately $40 million.
Holyoke Public Schools announced in October 2023 that an additional $11.7 million was awarded by MSBA to raise its contribution to project to an estimated $57.6 million. This would reduce Holyoke’s share of construction costs to approximately $27 million or 32% of the total cost.
The new middle school will not result in a tax override or debt exclusion for citizens due to Holyoke exploring all options to pay for construction of a new middle school building within its operating budget.
Back in 2019, Holyoke Public Schools, Holyoke and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education agreed to a $500,000 annual commitment that the city can use toward the bond for construction.
Currently, the estimated project costs are under-budget, according to Holyoke officials.
Agawam High School building project
The estimated total cost of the Agawam High School building project is currently at $231.5 million. It is expected MSBA will contribute over $99 million, reducing the town’s share to $132 million or less.
In June, 71% of Agawam residents voted “yes” to pay for a new school to support a Proposition 2½ debt exclusion to fund it.
Taxes are estimated to increase an average of $465 to $488 per year to pay for the new school.
Since local taxpayers would pay only a portion of the new-construction costs, the difference between renovation and new construction to the owner of the average single-family home would have been about $10 a month.
If it was voted “no,” taxes were still set to increase by an average of $340-$353 per year, to pay for imminent repairs as it still would have cost $70 million to renovate and repair the existing building.
The first payments would start in FY29 and would be on a single bond. Construction is estimated to begin next spring or summer.
East Longmeadow High School project
The East Longmeadow High School project is estimated to cost $177.5 million. The MSBA will contribute approximately $82 million to the project from revenue raised from statewide sales taxes.
The community of East Longmeadow will pay the remainder of the project cost, roughly $95, through a 30-year bond.
In November 2023, voters approved a town-wide debt exclusion to appropriate the full project cost.
The tax impact was reduced from the previously reported $990 to $1,040 per year, based on the average single-family home assessed value of $339,811, to $812 to $867 per year, based on the average single-family home.
The construction phase of the project began in June.
