School Committee approves plans to consolidate two Wareham schools

May 22, 2014

Two of Wareham’s schools could be changing locations in the near future.

On Wednesday, the School Committee unanimously approved Superintendent Kimberly Shaver-Hood’s recommendations to construct two plans, one of which would be contingent on the passing of a Proposition 2-1/2 Override to be voted on June 17, and one that would not.

‘Plan A,’ according to Shaver-Hood, would see the Cooperative School and West Wareham Academy moved to the Multi Service Center. ‘Plan B’ would see the two schools moved to the East Wareham Early Childhood Center.

The West Wareham School offers a therapeutic learning environment for students in grades seven through 12, and the Cooperative School provides an alternative to students who struggle in the traditional middle school and high school environments.

Shaver-Hood said that the Multi Service Center was the department’s first option because it’s the larger of the two buildings and best equipped to handle more students.

“If we combine the two into one building, whether it’s the East Wareham Early Childhood Center or Multi-Service Center, the district will save approximately $110,000," she said.

Shaver-Hood said that financially, the move to the Multi Service Center would not be possible without funding set aside in the override-contingent budget. She also said it was a goal of the school department to get most of Wareham’s schools on the same campus, which would happen if Plan A were successful.

“If Plan A doesn’t come through, we’d like to go to Plan B which is moving everyone to East,” said Shaver-Hood.

“I feel that Plan A is the right move,“ said committee member Rhonda Veugen, citing more space and greater flexibility in terms of busing as well as a centralized location as being the potential positives of the plan. “There are more challenges at East… and everything is on one location [with Plan A].”

Members of the committee and Shaver-Hood agreed that the town of Wareham would also have to agree with allowing the schools to use the Multi Service Center, which is currently used by the town for things like the Council on Aging and public meetings, among other uses.

Shaver-Hood said they would have to wait until the vote in June to see if the Multi Service Center was an option, and that even if it were to pass, they would not be prepared to make a move for the start of the school year in September.