Special Town Meeting on Deck for Feasibility Study

On Wednesday the School Building Committee is scheduled to talk with state officials about the district’s eligibility for state building aid.

“We want to fully understand what we need to provide to the Massachusetts School Building Authority and when it is (due),” said Larry Beaupre, chairman of the Swampscott School Committee. “It is a very prescribed process.”

One thing is for sure, a special town meeting would need to approve an estimated $400,000 to $600,000 feasibility study for the  MSBA to consider Swampscott for state building aid.

No date has been set for a special town meeting.

Building Committee members, however, have talked about requesting it in October to meet deadlines assigned by the MSBA eligibility program.

The study would look at options including new school construction to meet the district’s elementary school needs.

In addition to evaluating options the study would produce design materials such as schematics and site analysis, Superintendent Lynne Celli said.

The district's involvement with the MSBA started in January, setting in motion a 270-day timeline.

In January the district was granted an opportunity to apply for state school building aid.

The application review is competitive and, early in 2012, Swampscott advanced to the next stage.

The next item is seeking town meeting’s approval for the feasibility study.

The Swampscott Building Committee’s main focus will be to build consensus for a school building project.

The committee includes a variety of stakeholders and they will gather comments and answer questions and concerns from residents, Beaupre said.

The committee faces hurdles if it is going to gain town meeting support for the feasibility study and, ultimately, support from the voting public for any project.

The challenge is to propose a project that the town wants and for which it will shoulder the tax burden.