Franklin County Technical School Business Manager Russ Kaubris, at left, and Superintendent Rick Martin speak during a hybrid School Committee meeting on Wednesday. STAFF PHOTO/JULIAN MENDOZA
Franklin County Technical School holds a hybrid School Committee meeting on Wednesday. STAFF PHOTO/JULIAN MENDOZA
TURNERS FALLS — Franklin County Technical School’s superintendent introduced a set of preliminary capital project plans during Wednesday evening’s School Committee meeting.
Presented by Superintendent Rick Martin, the list of potential capital projects was composed by a Capital Planning Task Force, with a standout item being a possible addition of modular classrooms. Martin said the list has yet to be reviewed by the Building and Grounds Committee, which will be tasked with making recommendations of what to prioritize during a meeting on Tuesday. Projects would be prioritized and executed along time frames of one to three years, four to seven years, and eight to 12 years from now.
The prioritized list of projects that emerges from Tuesday’s subcommittee meeting will be brought to the financial subcommittee for approval, then to the full School Committee to be trimmed down to a limited number of projects, Martin said. This list could be as short as a single project that the school sees fit, he said, using the modular classroom proposal as an example.
Martin emphasized the need for modular classrooms to clear up space in an overcrowded school building.
“We no longer have an assembly hall — we converted that into four classrooms,” Martin told the selectboards and finance committees of Gill and Montague during a meeting on Feb. 28. “We are seriously looking at adding modular classrooms next year.”
The school, which now serves 583 students, has seen its enrollment steadily increase since 2016, when it had 437 students enrolled, according to data from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).
While Wednesday’s School Committee presentation estimated the modular classrooms addition will hover around $2 million or a series of $40,000 loan payments, Martin looks to receive a more accurate cost estimate after meeting with vendors in a “couple of weeks.”
“In the meantime,” Martin said, “we have an aging building with problems we need to address,” including around 20 potential maintenance and facility concerns. Martin highlighted new boiler controls, replacement of a faulty 47-year-old electrical switchgear, replacement of a grease trap and installation of an above-ground fuel tank as items most likely to be prioritized.
“We have a bunch of other items that we’ll wait for Building and Grounds to prioritize,” Martin said.
Reach Julian Mendoza at 413-772-0261, ext. 261 or jmendoza@recorder.com.
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