NEWBURYPORT — Plans to build a new school to replace Bresnahan Elementary School and renovate the Rupert A. Nock Middle School will take a step forward if the City Council approves funding tonight for the first stage of the process.
The measures to approve two separate bond authorization requests totaling $1.15 million received support from council members who attended a Budget and Finance Committee meeting last Thursday. The Budget and Finance Committee voted 2-0 to approve the two orders, with Ed Cameron and Bob Cronin voting in favor. Councilor Ari Herzog was absent.
The bond requests, which will pay for feasibility studies and design work for both projects, now come before the full council tonight for a vote. Superintendent Marc Kerble, who attended Thursday's meeting in City Hall auditorium, said based on the positive comments from councilors Cronin, Cameron and more than 75 others who came out to support the school projects, he believes the measures should win the council's approval.
"I'm very confident," Kerble said. "It would be terrific if it was a unanimous vote."
The push to acquire funding for both school projects follows their recent acceptance into the Massachusetts School Building Authority pipeline, which entitles the city to 48 to 50 percent reimbursement from the state for the building costs. The district had been submitting funding requests, or statements of interest, to the MSBA every year since 2000 in hopes of being accepted into the program.
School officials have said it's a stroke of good fortune to have two schools in a district be accepted into the MSBA at the same time. It appears at least some city councilors share that view. Kerble said Cameron and Cronin both spoke in favor of both projects, and Councilor Brian Derrivan also went on record Thursday night as being in favor of them.
"I was really heartened by that," Kerble said. "I know the city councilors have taken a tour of the schools. They've been terrific in terms of understanding why we are where we are."
Thursday night's crowd of School Committee members, teachers and parents, who brought their children along to represent future generations who stand to benefit from the proposed projects, spoke from first-hand experience about the condition of the schools.
"Many spoke to the poor physical conditions at the Bresnahan and Nock/Molin," Cameron said.
To Kerble, the idea of providing state-of-the-art schools for youngsters is one the city shouldn't pass up.
"I believe that our students need to be in 21st century buildings so we can give them a 21st century education," Kerble said. "We can't put in certain types of technology in the Bresnahan because we don't have the capability of doing that. And at the Nock school we can see the separation in the walls, and the bricks coming apart. It's an early 1970s building that has to be updated in terms of programs and safety."
In addition to supporting the two school building projects, officials said there was considerable support Thursday for plans to adapt the Bresnahan School into a senior center.
The first bond authorization before the City Council seeks $650,000 for a feasibility study and schematic design for the new Bresnahan Elementary School, per the specifications of the state's model school program. The estimated cost for the construction project is $30 million.
The second request is for $500,000 to conduct a feasibility study and schematic design for $15 million in renovations to the Nock School, which is connected to the Molin Upper Elementary School.
If approved by the council, the studies would begin immediately, providing a clearer picture on the exact cost for each project. Funding for both projects will then go before voters. A special election for the Bresnahan project would be held in February 2012, and the Nock/Molin project will be before voters on the November 2012 ballot.
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes
Raw Video: Fight Erupts in Ukrainian Parliament
Texan Ranchers Remain Wary of Drought
Raw Video: Soldiers Plant Flags at Arlington
Police: Man Arrested in Etan Patz Disappearance
NYC Protests: the Revolution Will Be Scripted
Chicago U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald Resigns
Neighbors of Etan Patz's Suspect: It's Shocking
Gulf Fishermen Reel From Seafood Troubles
Stuntman Makes Skydive Without Parachute in UK
Raw Video: Bride Who Faked Cancer Released
