With a vote of 1,374-402, residents in Longmeadow, Mass., south of Springfield, chose to fund a $151.59 million combined middle school on the town's existing Williams Middle School campus.
The project, more than a decade in the making, became controversial in 2024, when abutters to the site at 410 Williams St. opposed the location. The next step in the process is a townwide ballot vote on Sept. 30 to approve the debt exclusion for the construction effort.
Voters, many of whom attended with their children, packed into Longmeadow High School to weigh in on whether to fund the middle school project.
Set in the geographical center of the town, Williams Middle School was built in 1959 as part of a massive upsurge of school construction nationwide needed to accommodate the post-World War II baby boom. Nine years later, a second school was needed in Longmeadow, leading to the building of Glenbrook Middle School.
In the 57 years since then, the condition of the two structures has deteriorated, while the academic and security needs of the school community have changed, according to The Reminder, a daily news source in nearby East Longmeadow, on Sept. 10.
In 2007, Longmeadow officials first began exploring solutions for its middle schools.
After the town's high school was renovated in 2013, Longmeadow once again turned its focus to the middle schools and applied to participate in a Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) program that reimburses municipalities for a portion of eligible costs associated with the renovation or construction of school buildings. The state's sales tax helps fund the MSBA.
The town was finally accepted into the program in 2022, and local voters approved a feasibility study shortly thereafter.
While the study looked at options for renovating or building new construction for both Williams and Glenbrook, the MSBA would only fund one new school, and it was determined that Glenbrook was in the greatest need of replacement.
However, the state agency did allow for a combined middle school as a solution, according to The Reminder.
The cost of new construction also was found to be slightly less expensive than the $159.27 million it would cost to repair both middle schools and bring them up to code without any improvements.
The MSBA has agreed to reimburse the town for $54.8 million of the project, leaving taxpayers to fund $96.8 million. By using a debt exclusion, taxpayers would pay the cost of the debt service for the life of the bond, without it permanently increasing the levy limit.
Longmeadow's Finance Committee, Select Board, and School Committee each unanimously recommended the project in the months leading up to the vote. Finance Committee Chair Erica Weida said she was "confident" that the project was "financially optimal" for the town.
Prior to Longmeadow residents overwhelmingly approving the combined school proposal, Nicole Choiniere, a school committee member, emphasized that a vote against the middle school project was not a vote for renovating the existing middle schools; instead, she noted the process with the MSBA would come to a halt.
If that were to happen, the town would be forced to fund repair work for the schools while it waited several years to be accepted back into the MSBA's program. Even then, she said the state agency would only fund one of the two middle schools and renovating one school over the other would be unfair.
M. Martin O'Shea, the superintendent of Longmeadow Public Schools, said traffic and safety have been built into the design for the combined school. A traffic signal would be installed at the east driveway of the new site, and a turn lane would relieve congestion along Williams Street.
In addition, he noted, the middle school's driveway would allow more than 100 cars to queue for student drop-off and pick-up without the line backing up onto the street.
Meanwhile, a sidewalk on Williams Street and a raised crosswalk with a lighted beacon would make walking to school safer than it is currently. The location maximizes the number of students that can travel to the school on foot or by bike, O'Shea said.
A start and end date for the construction of the proposed middle school in Longmeadow has not yet been determined.
