School Committee approves Town Meeting warrant article for high school roof repairs
The School Committee on Wednesday OK'd a Town Meeting proposal that will ask voters to allow the town to pay for "feasibility study" to address repairs to the Wareham High School roof.
Wareham High was among six schools that the Mass. School Building Authority chose over the summer for its "accelerated repair program," which will reimburse districts 68% of the cost of approved projects.
The first step to getting a project approved by the program is to complete a feasibility study. School Department officials estimated that such a study would cost $60,000.
Selectmen have the ultimate say as to whether the measure makes it on the warrant for Town Meeting, which is coming up in October, but they gave school officials their blessing to pursue the state program earlier this year.
The high school's gymnasium roof was repaired early this year and district officials say the remainder of the 25-year-old roof has outlived its life expectancy.
The process before workers get on the roof to do repairs is a long one. The district will need to get estimates and plans, the Mass. School Building Authority will have to approve the project, and Town Meeting voters will have to OK the spending of local dollars for the repairs -- both for the feasibility study and, later, for the district's portion of the project's cost.
The accelerated repair program is intended to "improve learning environments for children and teachers, reduce energy use, and generate cost-savings for districts," according to state officials.
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