From the School Building Committee –
If you’d like to learn more about the proposed school’s costs or the tax implications please join the community conversation on WEDNESDAY, September 22nd at 7PM in the high school auditorium or tune in remotely via Facebook Live or Zoom.
To join online, please use this link:
https://medfield-net.zoom.us/j/87937341744?pwd=SHlaQTJBRzFmNkxIWnp6dUU2MldYUT09
Enter Password: 282689
From the School Building Committee –
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Please join the SBC on Wednesday, August 25th at 7PM for a Community Conversation. It will be held in-person at the Dale Street School cafeteria and virtually on FB Live and Zoom. The Zoom link is: https://medfield-net.zoom.us/j/84839791333?pwd=VVY0UFAxdHRabEFKTmFhbmN6ZFI4Zz09
From Susan Maritan –
Medfield residents who are interested in learning more about the proposed new elementary school for grades 4 and 5 are encouraged to attend or tune in remotely to the July Community Conversation with the School Building Committee (SBC). The presentation will be held on Thursday, July 29th at 7PM at Wheelock School or can be viewed online via Facebook Live or Zoom.
“The SBC is looking forward to connecting with the community and sharing progress to date on this important project,” said Anna Mae O’Shea Brooke, SBC member. “The key topics for this month’s discussion are the educational benefits of both the new school building and the Wheelock campus location. We will also be presenting the most recent architectural renderings of the site. This is especially exciting as the drawings bring the vision of the proposed school to life for all to see.”
“Today’s modern learning environment has evolved with regards to space planning and technology. The classroom is no longer constrained by physical boundaries and is more dynamic than our traditional view of teachers presenting a lesson in front of their students. We want to highlight some of the key features that the new school will offer not only inside the building but also how the abundance of outdoor space will create educational opportunities that were not available to our grade four and five students in the past,” continued O’Shea Brooke. “We hope residents will come and see for themselves the benefits the new school could provide to our young learners and dedicated educators.”
The SBC will also be taking questions from residents and addressing other topics such as cost planning including the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) reimbursement currently estimated at approximately $18 million, and the next steps in planning as the SBC prepares to present the final project to the community for a town wide vote this Fall.
The Community Conversation will be held at Wheelock School or can be watched remotely on Facebook Live and Zoom. Please visit the Facebook page – Elementary School Project Wheelock Campus – to watch there, or join the conversation via Zoom.
Join from a PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone or Android device:
Please click this URL to join. https://medfield-net.zoom.us/j/87390173150?pwd=ZVlSVk5qam05S2ZsUklFZEpzNzNVQT09
Passcode: 245605
Questions for the SBC may be submitted to: NewElementarySchoolProject@gmail.com, and for more information on the Medfield Elementary School Project, please visit: tinyurl.com/mednewschool. Those interested in receiving future school project updates may enter their email addresses at the bottom of the home page.
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Posted in Buildings, Information, Schools
From Susan Maritan for the School Building Committee –
Dear Medfield Community,
My name is Leo Brehm. I am a Medfield resident and also a member of the School Building Committee and the School Committee. I’d like to encourage the Medfield community to tune into this week’s School Building Committee meeting on Wednesday, June 23rd at 7pm.
This particular meeting will be an informative one as the committee will respond to the citizens’ petition and review estimated costs, the budget and design updates.
I would like to take this opportunity to address a frequently asked question (that is on everyone’s mind) regarding the reuse plan for the existing Dale Street facility. Planning for the reuse of the building is under consideration by the Medfield Permanent Planning and Building Committee as part of the master planning process the town has been conducting throughout this past year. They will continue to look closely at the feasibility of the Parks and Recreation Department using the space, if it becomes available.
I, and the entire SBC, look forward to sharing more about the proposed new school over the coming weeks and months. We will be holding more Community Conversations during the summer to share updates on our work and to continue engaging with the community. To keep up-to-date, sign up for our weekly Wednesday updates here and follow us on FB and Instagram and please visit our website http://tinyurl.com/mednewschool and sign up on the homepage to receive our updates.
If you have questions for the SBC, please email us at NewElementarySchoolProject@gmail.com
To join the Wednesday, June 23 at 7pm SBC Zoom meeting, use this link: https://medfield-net.zoom.us/j/81837257740?pwd=ZHV0SVpPank1VjJCQUVHNGpiVDVVdz09 Enter Password: 101575
Sincerely yours,
Leo Brehm
Comments Off on SBC meeting this evening at 7PM
Posted in Buildings, Schools, Uncategorized
From Susan Maritan –
The School Building Committee (SBC) is inviting all residents to attend a public forum for the proposed new elementary school on the Wheelock campus. The forum is scheduled for Sunday, June 13 at 4:00 at Dale Street School. Community members may participate in-person at Dale or may choose to watch the forum live on Medfield TV. Either way, the SBC is encouraging the community to come or tune in and learn more.
One of the main topics addressed at the forum will be the site selection of the Wheelock campus and will include a discussion of both the advantages and disadvantages of the campus model. Other items to be addressed are costs, resources spent to date, timelines and the impact of a recent citizen’s petition to keep the project at Dale Street. There will be ample time to answer residents’ questions and for community discussion.
“The SBC remains excited about the prospect of bringing a much needed new school, for grades 4 to 5, to Medfield to start the school year in 2024,” said Anna Mae O’Shea Brooke, School Building Committee member. “This is an important time for the project, and we need community engagement now more than ever to keep the project on track. We have a lot of new information to share, and we want to hear from all residents. I can’t stress enough how important participation is on June 13th.”
For more information from the SBC please visit: tinyurl.com/mednewschool, and while on the site, on the bottom of the home page, please subscribe to receive school project updates.
At the annual town meeting (ATM) yesterday evening, the citizen petition, Article 29, asking for an advisory “sense of the town meeting” opinion with respect to the Dale Street School site selection passed 229-213, basically slightly favoring the Dale at Dale solution over the Wheelock site.
The only other article that generated any controversy was the other citizen petition, Article 30, which asked for the creation of a study committee to look into how future School Building Committees would be appointed, which was handily defeated.
Below is the view of the 450 town residents from the platform at the front of the ATM across the front of the bleachers – note Select Board photographer’s shadow to understand how residents had to look right into the setting sun. There were two great video screens at the front to either side of the front platform, just like at a concert, that were rented to assist viewing the speakers – they were the best addition to the ATM. We experienced typical New England weather, storm clouds with rain drops to start, then sunny and too hot, and at the end 63 degrees that felt like freezing after an hour of sitting still in it. Fortunately, at the very end at around 9PM, after four hours, the Moderator asked if anyone was still undecided on the last Article about siting the new school (only a very few hands appeared), and then he called the question. About a dozen people waiting at microphones then lost their opportunity to speak.
Posted in Buildings, Schools, Town Meeting
From Anna Mae O’Shea Brooke –
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Thursday, May 13 at 7pm via Zoom:
To join online, use this link:
https://medfield-net.zoom.us/j/89214489926?pwd=YXVKTCtGS3N1cEpMeUpnMkpIa1Jhdz09
a. Enter Password: 644770
Medfield is participating in the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) process for a new elementary school to replace the existing Dale Street School. The new school will serve grades 4 & 5. The location for the future new school will be adjacent to the existing Wheelock School, creating an elementary school campus serving grades 2 through 5.
Join members of the School Building Committee (SBC) as they recap the details of the proposed new elementary school project, the MSBA process and why the Wheelock site was unanimously selected by the School Building Committee, the Board of Selectmen and the School Committee.
Please click here for the website and Project Summary and Key Facts Sheet.
Questions: email DaleStreetSchoolProject@gmail.com and follow us on Facebook.
Posted in Buildings, Children, Information, Schools
As part of the celebration of Earth Day, I asked to have my signature as a Town of Medfield Select Board member added to the letter below, going to the MSBA tomorrow. Medfield Energy Committee members and other may join too. –
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April 22, 2021
Deborah Goldberg, Chair
Anne Brockelman
Sean R. Cronin
Matt Deninger
Terry Kwan
Greg Sullivan
Sheila Vanderhoef
Via email to ______
Dear Treasurer Goldberg and members of the MSBA Board,
We are writing to encourage the MSBA to require that all school building projects funded by MSBA be fully electrified, and climate resilient.
The MSBA is to be commended for its track record of helping cities and towns replace or
renovate school buildings in an environmentally sustainable manner.
As your website notes,
The MSBA’s Green Schools Program provides incentives to a district to increase the
energy efficiency and sustainability for new construction and major renovation/addition
projects, by exceeding Massachusetts Energy base code by 20% for 2 additional
reimbursement points. All projects are required to register for the most recent version of
LEED-S or NE-CHPS and exceed Massachusetts Energy base code by 10%.
The MSBA’s updated Accelerated Repair Program provides a new opportunity to apply
sustainable standards to specific building systems such as roofs, boilers and window
systems. The MSBA’s green programs aim to encourage a high standard of
sustainability for all MSBA-funded projects. The MSBA continues to monitor the
effectiveness of its sustainable policies and make recommendations for
improvement, with an emphasis on energy and cost savings, resulting in direct
operational savings for school districts. [bold added]
As municipal leaders interested in speeding the transition away from fossil fuel dependency, we were particularly pleased to see the highlighted above, as it demonstrates an interest in continuous improvement in the area of sustainability and carbon emissions reduction. We are following up on your interest in improvement to encourage you to tie school building funding to the following requirements for all new or renovated schools:
How do these recommendations fit into the Commonwealth’s climate goals?
• Massachusetts has a greenhouse gas reduction mandate of 80% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and a commitment to be net zero by 2050; many cities and towns have more aggressive goals. The IPCC issued a report in 2018 noting that to keep global temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius — a goal of the Paris climate agreement — anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions would have to be on a path to fall by about 45 percent by around 2030.
• Massachusetts also has a goal of 300,000 EVs on the road by 2025.œ As HVAC systems are built to last for at least 20-30 years, that means we must act now to eliminate this significant source of fossil fuel energy.
• The National Climate Assessment projects that the Northeast will see dramatic increases in precipitation and flooding.
Why is all-electric the more environmentally beneficial choice? Under state law, the electric grid is powered by an increasing amount of renewable energy every year. In contrast, an oil or gas boiler is running on fossil fuels from day one until the day it is retired.
School building electrification is not a new concept. In fact, schools across the state are
converting to 100% clean electricity to save money, improve air quality for students, teachers and staff, and advance climate goals.
• Lincoln is about to break ground on a Net Zero K-8 renovation school project.
• Wellesley has one net zero ready elementary school in the design phase and is in the feasibility phase of a second.
• Brookline passed a Warrant Article in May 2019 requiring that all new school buildings be fossil fuel free.
• Westborough has approved and is moving forward with a net-positive energy elementary school.
• Arlington is about to break ground on a new all-electric high school where heating and cooling systems will utilize heat pumps.
• Several Cambridge schools have been rebuilt all-electric: Martin Luther King School, King Open School and the Cambridge Street Upper School, as well as the Valente Branch Library and a new administrative building for the entire school department; the Tobin/Vassal-lane school will be rebuilt all-electric.
• Construction is underway on the new Belmont Middle and High School which will be net zero and all-electric with heating and cooling by a geothermal heat pump system.
• Amherst passed a bylaw in 2017 requiring zero energy new municipal and school buildings.
• Concord is at the end of Feasibility for a net zero design for a new middle school and expects to start Schematic Design in the next few months (there was a CV-related delay).
• Lexington’s Select Board and School Committee adopted a building policy calling for construction of all-electric buildings, maximizing onsite renewable energy, and setting high standards for indoor air quality. Lexington’s Hastings Elementary School and Lexington Children’s Place pre-school are both expected to be net positive buildings when the solar energy systems that have been approved are completed later this year.
Energy efficient all electric schools are cost-effective to build and operate, while providing a healthier and safer learning environment for students and teachers alike.
Schools built on wetlands are more likely to suffer from mold and poor air quality, and need expensive repairs, especially as our region sees more frequent and intense rainfall.
Thank you for your consideration of our views. From the Green Communities Program to the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program to the Complete Streets grants and more, we are so appreciative of the Commonwealth’s partnership in supporting cities and towns efforts to advance our transition to a clean economy and make our communities more resilient as we face a changing climate. We would welcome the opportunity to speak with you in more detail about these recommendations and help you build support to enact them.
Sincerely,
Amherst
Darcy Dumont, Town Council, District 5
Dorothy S. Pam, Town Council, District 3
Patricia De Angelis, Town Councilor
Andover
Maria Bartlett, Member of Green Advisory Board
Arlington
Joseph A. Curro, Jr., Select Board Member
Adam Chapdelaine, Town Manager
Ashland
Robert Scherer, Select Board Member
Barnstable
Gordon Starr, Town Councilor, Precinct 1
Becket
Alvin Blake, Planning Board
Bolton
Jonathan Keep, Select Board Member
Boston
Kenzie Bok, City Councilor
Annissa Essaibi-George, City Councilor (At-Large)
Ed Flynn, City Councilor
Matt O’Malley, City Councilor
Braintree
Julia Flaherty, Town Council, District 1
Kelly J. Cobb-Lemire, School Committee Member
Brookline
Raul Fernandez, Select Board Member
Werner Lohe, Climate Action Committee (co-chair)
Burlington
Martha Simon, School Committee Member
Cambridge
Patricia Nolan, City Councilor
Quinton Zondervan, City Councilor
Concord
Charles Parker, Middle School Building Committee Member
Dalton
Robert Bishop, Select Board Chair
Cheryl Rose, Conservation Commission
Henry Rose, Commissioner, Conservation Commission
Joseph Fish, Chair, Green Dalton Committee
Dedham
Jessica Portee, Planning Board Member
Framingham
Geoff Epstein, School Committee Member, District 6
Gloucester
Jennifer Holmgren, Councilor-at-Large
Hopkinton
Jeffrey S Barnes, Conservation Commission (Chair)
Lakeville
Jesse L. Medford, Open Space Committee (Chair)
Lawrence
Jonathan Guzman, School Committee Member – District F
Lexington
Mark Sandeen, Select Board Member
Marlborough
Samantha Perlman, City Councilor
Medford
Zac Bears, City Councilor
Nicole Morell, City Councilor
Paul Ruseau, School Committee Member
Jenny Graham, School Committee
Newton
Susan Albright, City Council President
Alicia Bowman, City Councilor
Deb Crossley, City Councilor
Andreae Downs, City Councilor
Maria Scibelli Greenberg, City Councilor
Bill Humphrey, City Councilor
David Kalis, City Councilor
Josh Krintzman, City Councilor
Marc Laredo, City Councilor
Rick Lipof, City Council Vice President
Julia Malakie, City Councilor
Chris Markiewicz, City Councilor
Emily Norton, City Councilor
John Oliver, City Councilor
Holly Ryan, City Councilor
Northampton
Bill Dwight, City Councilor at Large
Alex Jarrett, City Councilor
Karen Foster, City Councilor, Ward 2
Susan Voss, School Committee Member
Chris Mason, Energy & Sustainability Officer
Pittsfield
Mary Stucklen, Commissioner – Green Commission
Reading
Vanessa Alvarado, Select Board Member
Somerville
Will Mbah, City Councilor
Ben Ewen-Campen, City Councilor
Katjana Ballantyne, City Councilor
Kristen Strezo, City Councilor-at-Large
Taunton
Phillip Duarte, City Councilor
Wakefield
Mehreen N. Butt, Town Councilor
Julie Smith-Galvin, Town Councilor
Susan Veilleux, School Committee Member
Rob Darnell, Environmental Sustainability Committee (Chair)
Mary Hajjar, Environmental Sustainability Committee (Vice Chair)
Robin Greenberg, Environmental Sustainability Committee
Jennifer Kallay, Gas & Light Board Commissioner
Elizabeth Sheridan, ESC Student Liaison
Watertown
Caroline Bays, Town Councilor
Angeline B. Kounelis, Town Councilor
Tony Palomba, Councilor-at-Large
Wellesley
Lise Olney, Select Board Member
Williamstown
Anne O’Connor, Select Board Member
Winchester
Michael Bettencourt, Select Board (Chair)
Posted in Energy Committee, Green, Schools, State
From Clair Meehan for MCPE –
All year, you have asked how YOU CAN HELP get our kids back into the classroom as safely as possible, and Monday is the time to come together and make it happen!!
Today we officially launch a 5 day fundraising initiative to help cover needs that have emerged as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as air filters, disinfecting spray and wipes. Keeping our kids, teachers, staff and administrators safe is critical, but it’s not free. Join us next week by making a donation and encouraging your friends and neighbors to do the same!
To learn more, or to make a tax-deductible donation, visit the MCPE website.
Comments Off on MCPE’s OneMedfieldOnward
Posted in Charity, MCPE - Medfield Coalition for Public Education, Schools
Medfield Select Board member
I started this blog to share the interesting and useful information that I saw while doing my job as a Medfield select board member. I thought that my fellow Medfield residents would also find that information interesting and useful as well. This blog is my effort to assist in creating a system to push the information out from the Town House to residents. Let me know if you have any thoughts on how it can be done better.
For information on my other job as an attorney (personal injury, civil litigation, estate planning and administration, and real estate), please feel free to contact me at 617-969-1500 or Osler.Peterson@OslerPeterson.com.
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