Both the Lynch School and Muraco School, need classroom additions and renovation/replacement of major systems. The 2017 WPS Master Plan estimated the cost to renovate/rebuild Muraco at approximately $45M, and Lynch at $50M, and recommended that the town focus on these two schools in seeking funding from the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA). As major capital projects, neither school's reconstruction/replacement will be funded from an operating override, however on-going facility improvements and repairs will be more fully funded with a YES vote, given the infusion to the Building and Capital Stabilization Funds.
In April 2017, the School Committee and Board of Selectmen jointly submitted to the MSBA Statement of Interest forms (SOIs) for the reconstruction/replacement of the Lynch and Muraco schools. The MSBA declined the district’s SOIs in December 2017. In the Spring of 2018, the School Committee and Select Board resubmitted SOIs for both schools and Lynch was selected as one of 28 schools for further review and consideration. WPS learned in November that Lynch was not recommended to the MSBA Executive Board for feasibility study.
The MSBA application window is open now, with a deadline of April 2019. In January the School Committee opened discussion on the submittal of SOIs/applications for both schools for funding consideration and in February authorized WPS administration to prepare updated SOIs for a vote of both the School Committee and Select Board in March.
How does the March 26th override relate to these two needed school projects?
As major capital projects, the reconstruction of Lynch and Muraco will be bonded for 20 to 25 years following a successful debt-exclusion override. Based on recent history with the MSBA (on the Winchester High School and Vinson-Owen projects), we can reasonably expect state reimbursement of between 38 to 43% of total project costs.
Although the actual construction of these two schools would be funded through a dedicated debt-exclusion override rather than the Town's operating budget, the March 26th override is essential to fund the initial Feasibility Study-- a required first step towards design development and project reimbursement. Winchester's share of the Feasibility Study is estimated to be between $600,000 to $1M. The funding source for this work is typically our Capital Stabilization Funds, which require replenishment in the March override.