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Select Board Vote In Support of Statement of Interest for New Burlington High School

 Select Board Vote In Support of Statement of Interest for New Burlington High School

The Select Board has unanimously approved the next step on the road to a potential new Burlington High School.

Burlington Public Schools Director of Operations Bob Cunha was before the board at their April 13th meeting. This statement of interest (SOI) to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) would be Burlington’s fourteenth attempt to received state funding for potential construction of a new BHS. Last year, the High School Building Committee attempted to get a project off the ground without state funding, but a failed debt exclusion vote in a special November election halted those plans. The committee has now gone back to the drawing board with this new SOI.

Town Administrator John Danizio explained to the board that their vote of approval does not tie the town to a project or that the MSBA would fund a project, but just show the MSBA that the project is a priority for the Town of Burlington.

“We need to try.” said Cunha, “We won’t get any state funding if we don’t submit the application. This is just for the chance to be put into the running.”

Select Board Member Nick Priest asked what made this SOI different than the previous ones. Cunha explained that this new SOI was a collaborative effort by the Building Committee. Since the special election in November, the committee has expanded to twenty-seven members, which include residents and BHS staff, who have all had the opportunity to review and add their input to the SOI.

With the ongoing Fox Hill Elementary School project approved and receiving funds from the MSBA, Select Board Member Mike Espejo wondered if that would hurt their chances. Cunha said that typically the MSBA does not like to have two projects from the same town in the system at the same time, however there are a lot of factors that go into it, such as funds available and number of potential projects.

Select Board Vice Chair Sarah Cawley read the SOI into the record, and the Select Board approved it unanimously. You can view the full discussion from the Select Board meeting here.