School leaders elated as MSBA vote for GMS project
By Mike Berger
With MSBA funding support, Canton hopes to either fully renovate or build a new Galvin Middle School. (CPS photo)
After four attempts in four years, the Galvin Middle School building project has been officially accepted into the Massachusetts School Building Authority’s (MSBA) Core Program, kicking off a partnership that could potentially net the town millions in state reimbursement dollars.
“This is phenomenal news for our district,” said Superintendent of Schools Derek Folan. “The vote to accept the GMS project into the MSBA Core Program puts us on a clear path for a new or renovated Galvin Middle School, and I am certain it will energize and amplify our entire school community.”
Following an affirmative vote by the MSBA board on March 2, Canton is now set to join the agency’s 270-day eligibility period, during which time the MSBA will work with Canton school leaders to determine the district’s “financial and community readiness to enter the MSBA Capital Pipeline.”
“The eligibility period is a critical step in the MSBA’s process of evaluating potential work on the William H. Galvin Middle School,” stated MSBA Executive Director Jack McCarthy. “We look forward to our continued partnership with the district as it enters the eligibility period.”
The next steps for Canton include the formation of a local school building committee and the submission of various preliminary forms and data, followed by the completion of a detailed feasibility study, which is projected to cost around $1.5 million and will require an appropriation at the upcoming annual town meeting.
Stephen Marshall, Canton Public Schools’ director of finance and operations, said the amount of state reimbursement funds that Canton could receive is still to be determined. “It would change depending on outcomes of the feasibility study,” he said.
Canton’s invitation to the MSBA’s eligibility period follows an exhaustive review process that began over the summer with the resubmission of a Statement of Interest (SOI), chiefly authored by Assistant Superintendent Sarah Shannon, and an MSBA senior study in October that included a virtual meeting with key stakeholders and a physical tour of the building.
The 2021 SOI was the fourth submission by the district following unsuccessful attempts in 2018, 2019 and 2020. Canton’s SOI drew on the district’s long-range Facilities Master Plan — a comprehensive document prepared in 2017 by Dore and Whittier Architects which identified the Galvin as the school with the most deficiencies. In its application to the MSBA, Canton identified three priorities for the GMS project: eliminating existing severe overcrowding; replacing, renovating or modernizing school facility systems to increase energy conservation and decrease energy costs; and replacing or adding onto an obsolete building in order to provide for a full range of programs consistent with state and local requirements.
Folan said what helped sway the MSBA this year was the enthusiastic support for the project shown by everyone from the School Committee to the Select Board to state Senator Walter Timilty and state Rep. Bill Galvin. “There was great cohesion and great collaboration as the community came together on this,” said Folan.
He added that the MSBA was impressed by the educational vision of the Galvin Middle School along with …
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Posted by Mike Berger
on Mar 11 2022. Filed under News, Schools.
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