LETTER: School Building Committee Urged To Select PreK-5 Building Option For North Intermediate Site At October 8 Meeting

Dear Editor,

I would like to please pass along to the Wilmington Apple as Letter to the Editor, a letter I sent to the Wildwood School Building Committee. This committee has an upcoming vote on October 8th to select which option will continue forward to potentially rebuild or renovate elementary schools in Wilmington. My letter to that Committee is below:

Thank you all for reading my letter. As a disclaimer, I am a member of the School Committee, but the views expressed below are my own and not of the School Committee unless expressly stated.

I am writing this letter to you all to express my support for the PreK-5 new building option at the North Intermediate School. The reasons why I support this are:

· A new school will give the students and families the learning spaces they deserve, and it will be done right, with a clean slate and avoid the headaches of navigating a renovation. All of our elementary schools are aged, have not been renovated and not fit for purpose. We are currently having students take special services in hallway closets due to the lack and insufficient configuration of space. We can do better.

· It starts WPS on the path to consolidation of the elementary schools by creating PreK-5 schools that help students have less school transitions and give them more stability at these young ages. Consolidation will further help families by eliminating multiple school drop offs, multiple school pickups at the same time and constantly learning new school administrations and practices. Having multiple schools at this age puts a stressful burden on our students and families. Consolidating to PreK-5 can reduce the burden and help these families out immensely.

· It will make the most financial sense in the long term. I understand there is some hesitation around the upfront cost of the New PreK-5 and this may be why some are considering a PreK-3 option. I believe when looking at the cost analysis that a PreK-3 new build, with a renovation of the North, will end up being equal in cost or more expensive to a new PreK-5 school. With the PreK-3 new and renovate North option, the Town will need to now manage two separate major construction projects and will most likely need to delay the North renovation until after the new PreK-3 school is built. This will then result in costs increasing on the North renovation and could potentially hamper or jeopardize other future Town capital projects. Finally, by keeping two schools, the Town is now committed to operating two schools instead of one which will end up being more in yearly operating costs as opposed to a single school.

While I have your attention, I would also like to take this time to challenge the notion that the North is in excellent shape due to the recent investments that the Town has made in new windows and some HVAC.

· The North used to be a middle school in a past life. It was not significantly renovated to remove the middle school centric features when it was converted to an elementary school. For example, there are still eye wash stations and safety showers still in the classrooms when they used to be middle school science labs. The high school gymnasium is barely the size of a full basketball court with unused and not fit for purpose locker rooms beneath the gym.

· There are some ductless A/C units in the North. They are only located in a few of the classrooms and they are only used in the summer months to support summer programs there. They are not used year round and there are not units in every classroom.

· I have many more examples, but I will not continue. The idea is to paint a picture for you all that some upgrades have been performed, which was great, and much more significant structural renovation will need to take place to get this school to be at the level it needs to support our students.

As you all begin to think about how you will vote, I would like to advocate that the community is going to be looking for you all to help guide us to the best option for our students and families. The rationale is that you all are the most in-tune with the project and can expertly advocate the direction we need to go. You all have spent so much time, effort and energy on this project. The Building Committee’s analysis said the New PreK-5 was the best option, and the School Committee has also voted that New PreK-5 will be the best option for students and their families. Please follow your analysis and discard the desire to placate the minority of loud voices. After the vote has been complete, I would also like to challenge the Building Committee to examine how to reduce the cost of the new PreK-5 option as best as possible so the financial impact on the community can be mitigated.

To close, I would like to remind you all that we have a generational opportunity to enact lasting positive change for students and their families with this MSBA grant. We can consolidate the schools to lessen the burden on the families and dramatically improve the educational spaces to help our children. What I am worried about is that the fear of change or inertia may squander us as a community taking this opportunity. It is up to us to be the leaders that Town is looking for and help guide everyone to a better and stronger chapter in Wilmington’s education system.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Michael Mercaldi