NEWBURYPORT — There was applause and even some tears of joy last night after the City Council voted unanimously to approve $1.15 million in bond requests to kick off two major school building projects.
Residents, school administrators and teachers sat in silent anticipation as the roll call vote for the two authorizations — a $650,000 bond for a feasibility study and design for a new model Bresnahan School and a $500,000 bond for study and design for renovations to the Nock and Molin school building — played out.
When the last vote was called, the council chambers erupted in a rare round of applause.
For Bresnahan Principal Kristina Davis, it was a moment of overwhelming joy.
"The teachers are going to be just ecstatic," she said. "To hear that unanimous vote just was amazing, to be sitting there and feeling the support of the City Council. This is really exciting."
Voters in two separate elections next year will be asked to fund about half of the total $45 million in construction costs for the projects to ultimately proceed.
Davis spoke of some of the things a new elementary school would mean to Newburyport. She said teachers would be able to integrate technology into their curriculum without the resulting power surges and blown fuses that they experience in the current Bresnahan School. There would be room for physical education classes in a bona-fide gymnasium without having to teach overflow classes in the cafeteria.
Instructional aides and teachers who conduct some of their work in hallways would have established space in classrooms. And for the first time since restructuring in 2007, the school would cater to pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students in the same building as first- through third-graders.
"It will give children a feeling of being in a school for a long time," Davis said. "It will offer longevity for the children, which is something we once had."
Mayor Donna Holaday, Superintendent Marc Kerble and Assistant Superintendent Deirdre Farrell led other city officials in playing instrumental roles in obtaining state funding through the Massachusetts School Building Authority for the projects.
The decision for councilors, even those reluctant to spend money on overtime budgets and pay raises, came down to the idea that the expense of building a new elementary school and fixing a deteriorating middle school were investments in the city that could be quantified as a tangible asset.
"It's been rumored I'm reluctant to spend money," Councilor Tom Jones said. "I don't know where that comes from. But I view this not so much an expenditure but an investment. Anyone who has been to the Bresnahan School can attest it's in dire need of replacement. It's beyond a few Band-Aids and a coat of paint."
Councilor Ed Cameron said on a recent visit to the Nock School, fellow Councilor Barry Connell was pictured in a photo alongside a gaping crack in the wall through which the elements outdoors could be seen further destabilizing the building.
Speaking to a process that seems to have made remarkably quick work of getting not one, but two schools to the top of the state's funding list, Holaday was quick to point out that the road actually began in 1996.
It was then that the city began looking to build a new elementary school on a piece of vacant land in the West End neighborhood of Cherry Hill.
As time went on and the state was shifting its capital building management duties from the Department of Education to the treasurer's office, the focus for pursuing state funding shifted to the Nock Middle School. Plans to build a new elementary school seemed to fall by the wayside amid massive budget cuts.
Then, the city submitted a statement of interest to the newly formed MSBA seeking funds for both the Nock and Bresnahan. Shortly after Holaday took office, she asked Sen. Steven Baddour (D-Methuen) for help organizing a meeting with MSBA's Catherine Craven. Soon after what Holaday called a productive meeting, the city heard back from the MSBA.
"All of a sudden we were in the pipeline," said Holaday
Construction is expected to cost $30 million for the Bresnahan School and $15 million for the Nock. Through the MSBA program, the state will reimburse the city approximately 48 to 52 percent of the cost.
The mayor said the city could be breaking ground next spring on the model Bresnahan School and be open for students by spring 2014.
"I'm ecstatic," Holaday said.
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