After attending last weeks monthly meeting of the new Longmeadow Middle School Committee, we are now convinced, more than ever, that the only option being considered for a new middle school is to build a new school on the Williams athletic field. Despite the location being too small for what the town wants, they are forging ahead and are intent on bringing almost 700 students to this location. The Williams site was just fine for a 350-student school. For a 700-student school, the site is undersized. Connecticut has guidelines for the acreage needed when building a new school. Massachusetts does not and leaves this up to each community. For what Longmeadow intends to build here, Connecticut would require 22 acres of land. The Williams site is approximately 16 acres. Something has to give in order to squeeze the school into this location. You need a state-of-the-art school, you need parking, you need a field for the kids, you need a new road around the site to accommodate the long queue of cars during drop-off and pick-up, and you need to maintain all of this in a safe, suburban setting, not an urban city setting. Just wondering what will be sacrificed to put all of this into the Williams site.
Another thing we took from last weeks meeting is that the committee is struggling with how to mitigate traffic and safety issues with the increased number of students and parents dropping off kids. One of the things being considered is to create a turning lane on Williams Street, which while it sounds good, will require a widening of the road. A turning lane, while it might help, could also be just another waste of money if the turning lane only holds three or four cars. The town manager also indicated during the meeting that the town would prefer not to have a traffic officer there every day to help direct traffic.
In an online forum it was recently brought up that most kids are dropped off at school and don’t walk or bike. We are wondering if there are estimates that project how students will arrive at the new combined school? How many will be bused, how many will walk or bike, and most importantly, how many of the almost 700 students will be dropped off?
We want to again stress that we are all for improving the quality of education in Longmeadow. But not if it compromises the safety of kids and changes the character of the town. The MSBA approved Longmeadow’s SOI for the Glenbrook School but rejected the SOI for the Williams School. Why not renovate Glenbrook now to bring it up to current standards, and then in 10 years or so tackle the Williams School issue. This would spread out the tax impact to residents. Couldn’t the high school provide some space for kids while renovation is ongoing? With limited available space in town, we must work with what we have, and without a piece of land large enough that the committee is willing to consider, perhaps it’s time to reconsider keeping two middle schools as the best option.
Bill and Terry DeGiulio
Longmeadow
