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Board of Ed Supports $16.9 Million Building Project at Saxe
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The Board of Education on Tuesday voted 9-0 in favor of a recommendation to renovate the Saxe Middle School auditorium, expand performing arts classroom spaces and build a 2-story, 12-classroom addition on the northwest corner of the building for an estimated $16.9 million. The proposal, which also includes one relocated science/STEM classroom in the addition, would meet pressing enrollment needs by providing enough classrooms “without sacrificing program or class sizes, and put students into appropriately sized classroom spaces,” said school board member Penny Rashin, who helped lead a committee of residents and town and district officials who are overseeing the project. “While the cost is significant, we think this option provides an efficient solution to the needs of students at Saxe and urge you to support it,” Rashin said at the Board of Ed’s special meeting, a second read of the building proposal, held in the Choral Room at the middle school. On Wednesday, Rashin said, the Saxe Building Committee will go before the Board of Finance to seek $750,000 in preconstruction funding for the project (architects, engineering, legal, owner’s rep, environmental testing, construction manager and cost estimating). Parents and school board members in voicing support for what’s been called “Option 3A” pointed to rising enrollment at a school built for 1,200 students and attendant curriculum needs for the student body.