Dear Editor and Residents of Wilmington,
In 2021, Wilmington was one of only 15 districts invited into the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) core program based on “need and urgency” (in the MSBA’s words). All six of our elementary schools were reviewed, and although the Wildwood School (since closed) was identified as the highest priority, the MSBA signaled support for a consolidation project that would address Wilmington’s multiple aging elementary school buildings. Since then, the town has worked in partnership with the MSBA at every stage to bring us to this moment.
After examining every viable building site in Wilmington, considering multiple possible grade configurations (pre-K–K, pre-K–3, pre-K–5), considering multiple construction options (repair only, add/renovate, new construction), holding numerous public forums, and after extensive public input (including nearly 1600 responses to surveys), the school building committee has proposed that the town build a new pre-K–5 school at the site of the North Intermediate. The MSBA has endorsed the project and agreed to contribute $62 million to help Wilmington build this needed school. To cover Wilmington’s share of the project, the tax increase (for the average assessed home value in Wilmington of about $703,000) will be $106 per quarterly tax bill, or about $35 per month.
No one likes higher taxes—just as no one likes higher insurance premiums or higher grocery, electricity, and heating bills. But Wilmington needs to address its elementary schools and this project is a fiscally responsible way to do so with profound benefits to the town.
Our current elementary schools are more than 60 years old. They are not fully accessible. They lack fire suppression sprinklers, air conditioning, flexible learning spaces, and appropriate special education areas. Renovating each school separately would cost more than building a new consolidated school. And consolidation has other benefits. Students currently attend four different schools by the time they reach 6th grade as they transition over and over from school to school. Teachers struggle to collaborate and plan when they’re in different buildings. Multiple staff members spend time driving from building to building each day instead of spending that time in front of students. And the kids and teachers at the Wildwood are currently split across two school buildings (the West and the Middle School) making it difficult for them to be a school community and straining the facilities of their host schools. They’re making do but we need a proper long-term solution.
This project gives Wilmington the opportunity to address three of our aging elementary schools at once. Rejecting it would mean forfeiting the $62 million. It would leave us to either bear the entire financial burden alone or try our luck reapplying to the MSBA (with no guarantee of being invited in again). Either way, any new school would now be 8–10 years away. There is no alternative project waiting in the wings. We can’t substitute another proposal and keep the $62 million grant if this one is rejected. The proposed pre-K–5 school is the only game in town right now, the only option on the table. We can say yes and open a new school in the fall of 2028. Or we can say no and set our school district and its children back years, all while paying more in the end. To me, the right choice is clear.
If, like me, you support this project, then don’t just assume that other people will show up and get it passed. Make a plan to be at the high school Saturday morning, September 13, for the special town meeting and make sure to vote on the ballot question September 16 (or, even better, vote early at Town Hall from September 2–12).
Let’s get this done, Wilmington!
David Ragsdale
Wilmington School Committee
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