Select Board June 17: statement of interest to School Building Authority

The Select Board met with the School Building Committee, Superintendent James Jette, and members, Sean O’ Rourke, Ada Rosmarin to discuss their second bid for state funding to assist in the building of another elementary school. The first submission last year made it through the initial review process but did not make it to the next round. A new elementary school would be crucial to eliminating the overcrowding that the town is currently seeing and that is only expected to rise. It was noted that the school system has converted 20 “nontraditional spaces,” such as art and music rooms and computer labs, into classrooms to accommodate the influx in students, with five more expected to be needed within the next five years. The statement of interest (SOI) will be reviewed by the School Building Authority, with a response to be decided on in early 2022.

The Select Board approved the vote to submit a SOI to the state School Building Authority for the project, which will be the first step in the funding process.

Additional items of discussion

Reprecincting was discussed, as Milton’s population has risen by 2.1 percent. More information on new map lines will be discussed at future meetings. 

The next regular meeting is to take place on June 23.