The next Island town to float a comprehensive school building project may be West Tisbury, which last renovated its 1970s school in the mid-1990s. But first, voters will need to approve $1 million to $2 million for a project manager and design services.
From a failing roof to inadequate, outdated energy systems, West Tisbury School needs a complete overhaul, officials said Monday at a meeting of the up-Island school committee, held both online and at the school on Old County Road.
“I think it’s obvious what needs to be done here. We need a full rehab of the entire building,” said Skipper Manter, a member of both the school committee and the West Tisbury select board.
A $558,000 contract to replace the roof and skylight has been approved, but the school is also leaking heat through its walls, windows, doors and foundation, according to a presentation from the town’s Environmentally Friendly School Building Task Force.
A six-member group of town and school officials working with engineering consultant and West Tisbury resident Marc Rosenbaum, the task force has developed a proposal to make the school energy-efficient and carbon neutral.
According to a feasibility study of the school by RDH Building Science of Boston, the most significant energy use is for heating, cooling and ventilation — primarily heating, task force member Doug Ruskin told the committee.
Much of the school’s HVAC equipment is outdated and inefficient, with some systems that are too noisy to operate during classes, Mr. Ruskin said.
Based on the feasibility study, the preliminary cost estimate to make the building energy-tight, efficient and non-polluting is $26 million to $37 million in 2022 dollars, he told the school committee. The wide cost range is due to the multiple options that could be involved, Mr. Ruskin said.
Pre-bid estimates from RDH Building Science include $18 to $25 million to retrofit the building, $6 million to $8 million for temporary classrooms while construction is underway, $1 million to $2 million for an owner’s project manager (OPM) and bid documents, and another $1 million to $2 million for solar energy.
Federal and state subsidies could come from sources such as the commonwealth’s Mass Save and Green Communities programs and the Massachusetts School Building Authority, according to a task force report based on the feasibility study.
But in order to move ahead, Mr. Ruskin said, the town should act soon.
“We would like to see a fall town meeting article to cover the costs of the OPM and the design budget,” he said.
“If there are other things needed, I would think it wise to incorporate it in one single project,” Mr. Ruskin added.
“Nothing gets cheaper as time goes by, and the sooner we can get this budget and the OPM on board, the sooner we can get the design done,” he said.
While West Tisbury principal Donna Lowell-Bettencourt was unable to attend Monday’s meeting, assistant principal Mary Boyd recommended writing the OPM request for proposals to include a “visioning project” aimed at determining the school’s needs over the next 50 years.
Superintendent of Island schools Richie Smith acknowledged the West Tisbury School’s needs, but asked committee members to keep in mind that the Vineyard’s six-school system has multiple building projects on its plate already.
“We are now looking at a high school project, a Tisbury project, a West Tisbury School project and possibly an athletic field project, all happening within the next two years in different iterations,” Mr. Smith said.
And money isn’t the only obstacle to getting it all done, business administrator Mark Friedman said.
“There’s a capacity issue, along with a resource issue, that we would have to tackle with this project, because the number of meetings and the coordination that goes with any individual building project is significant,” Mr. Friedman said.
“Tackling two at the same time … is unusual, and to tackle three would be ambitious,” he said.
Nonetheless, Mr. Smith said, the central office is not suggesting that West Tisbury wait on its much-needed school overhaul.
“I just want an awareness among our school committee and our town leaders that there is one central office, there’s one business administrator, there truly are capacity issues,” the superintendent told the group.
“An awareness, and then behavior that demonstrates that awareness, is what I’m looking for,” Mr. Smith said.
School committee members agreed to hold a special meeting in two weeks to discuss the task force recommendations.
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