To the Editor,
More than 26 years ago, I served on the Manchester Essex regionalization subcommittee with folks from both Essex and Manchester. We sought a regional partnership that would combine our resources and efforts to deliver an excellent education, which we’ve achieved.
Along the way, we’ve steadily addressed the replacement of our district’s post WWII school buildings, by focusing on structures that support education in the 21st century. We have replaced two school buildings, and are planning for the third and final project.
Back in 2000, we knew that the order of that replacement would most likely be the middle high school first, then Memorial, and finally Essex Elementary. Fortunately, residents in both towns agreed and approved those capital projects at town meetings and debt exclusions at the ballot box.
We’ve come a long way in a short time.
On November 16th and December 10th, our two towns can realize the final step of our facilities plan by approving the Essex Elementary School building project. This project was guided in part by an elementary school study prior to the Memorial School project where the two towns affirmed what had been defined in the regional agreement, that each town wanted to retain our neighborhood schools. Further directives from town leadership at the beginning of the Essex project also asked us to examine whether we could combine the two schools at the Memorial site, either just sending all elementary students to Memorial or adding on to Memorial.
Both possibilities were ruled out for several reasons, one being the cost of delay in revising the regional agreement and most importantly because the building and site couldn’t bear the addition of 200+ more students and state MSBA reimbursement of such a project was unlikely.
Our proposal is to rebuild EES, with the same educational spaces required by the curriculum and the needs of our students that we provided at Memorial in Manchester. That includes an ADA compliant school with two classrooms per grade, space for special instruction and special education programming, the shared rooms that house art, music, foreign language, physical education, and project rooms, and a cafeteria/gym/stage.
We welcome residents in both towns to reach out to members of the school building committee, visit our school building website, and ask questions. If we don’t have the answer at hand, be assured that we will seek it out and get back to you.
The price tag on this project is significant and is driven by several factors, including more rigorous design and energy standards and accelerated cost escalation in the construction market exacerbated by steel tariffs, costs of petroleum-based products, and labor.
I support this project and I support it now.
It is time to replace the failing Essex Elementary Building with one that supports the educational needs of our students today. Waiting, as we see in neighboring towns, will only increase our costs, either in fixing a failing building or incurring continued escalation costs.
You can learn more about this project at mersd.org.
Annie Cameron
Essex
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