School board eyes August for Park Street move-out date

With a possible redevelopment on the horizon for Springfield’s Park Street School building, the Springfield School District Board of Directors is asking that the district’s Central Office (CO), now housed in that former school, move out by August.


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2017-02-08 / Front Page School board eyes August for Park Street move-out date By TORY JONES toryb@eagletimes.com SPRINGFIELD — With a possible redevelopment on the horizon for Springfield’s Park Street School building, the Springfield School District Board of Directors is asking that the district’s Central Office (CO), now housed in that former school, move out by August. Springfield School Superintendent Zach McLaughlin spoke to members of the school board at a regular meeting on Monday, Feb. 6, sharing with them a Fiscal Year 2018 cost breakdown for scenarios about the building: keeping it open versus closing it, and what costs would look like for a relocation to new CO headquarters. McLaughlin said he, along with administrators including Fiscal Services Director Steve Hier, have taken “walk-through” tours of three locations, though he did not want to disclose those locations yet as the district is still discussing options on where to relocate and are not yet ready to begin negotiations. They have not yet decided on a new location, but will start discussing lease options focused on an August 2017 move-out date, at the request of the school board. The purpose of setting a move-out date now is because the school district needs a date before it can enter into any potential lease or purchase agreement for a future location, board member Laura Ryan said. The school department is “reconfiguring” at this point, McLaughlin said. The All-4-One program for children has been moved to the basement of Riverside Middle School, due to a lead paint issue on windows at the Park Street School building. Due to the peeling paint on windows, the state set a deadline to move the children out of that building, he said. The school district decided not to renovate those windows, because it was “looking to relocate Central Office anyway,” he said. The building has not been in use as a school facility since the 2009-2010 school year. It still houses a non-traditional classroom for young adults in the basement of the building. Options may include moving the non-traditional class to space at Springfield High School, or moving the CO to a rental space along with the Information Technology (IT) department. Another option could be a rented space that would also be large enough to house all of the documentation storage that CO must keep in accordance with law, he said. Options in the future may include opening up some classroom space as office space as student population declines, he said. Those will have to be “long, thought-out, researched” conversations, looking at the ripple effect, he said. In the long run, looking forward 10 years, the district has to look at “what is the future of this community,” McLaughlin said. The total FY2018 budget impact, if the Park Street School building stayed open, would be $128,477 according to the breakdown McLaughlin provided. That would include costs associated with custodial service, pest control, plowing, repairs, alarms and sprinklers, water and sewer, an average of $21,000 for electricity, $4,200 for elevator maintenance, and $67,960 for fuel oil. The entire heating system would also need an overhaul, McLaughlin said. He described having the CO staying in the Park Street School building as being “in the belly of the Titanic, and you see all these patches,” and wondering if the next repair will be the big one. “How do you run the operation, with no heat?” he said. If the school building closed, with no heat, the cost would be $2,450, which includes alarms, sprinklers, basic phone service and minimal electricity for the exterior lights and alarm system. The ongoing cost for relocation to a leased location would be $177,062, according to McLaughlin’s estimates. That would include custodial hours and supplies, alarms and sprinklers, water and sewer, an average of $12,000 for electricity and $13,500 for fuel oil due to heating less space, and an estimated $125,00, or 10,000 square feet at $12.50 per square foot, for rent. Several factors could impact the potential square footage cost, McLaughlin said. Without yet having a “deal on the table,” the district is providing an estimated rental cost, he said. McLaughlin also provided the estimated one-time cost associated with relocating. That would include $20,000 for a moving service so as not to use school employees for the move, potentially deal with back injuries or related liabilities or lost time; $20,000 for security, IT and telephone; and $15,000 estimated for “fit-up” costs, once a new property is found. School and town officials reviewed a draft marketing study designed to assist in the sale of the building during a meeting of the Park Street School Subcommittee last week. The draft study estimates the cost of renovating the two-story building at $24 million, with up to $8 million available through national tax incentive programs and grants. The building was estimated in 2010 to be worth about $300,000. “Twenty-four million is a lot of money,” school board member Steve Karaffa said on Monday. School board member Jeanice Garfield said that the district is closer now to selling the building than ever before, and that people have been waiting 12 years to see this take place. She also said the Park Street study was a nice collaboration between the town and the school. Karaffa suggested the board “grab the bull by the horns,” and get a timeline, which board members agreed to set as August. “Either we stay or we leave,” he said. The Park Street School Subcommittee is targeting mid-February for a final draft of the study, conducted by Brattleboro-based Stevens & Associates. Chair Ed Caron said the board should look at a 2-3 year lease at another location, for now, and decide soon what it is going to do with the building and “at what point we shut it down.” “I think we just have to do it,” Caron said. Caron also suggested at the meeting that, should the school district decide to close the building, it should notify the community that the gymnasium will no longer be available. Meanwhile, delegates from the school board, including Caron and Garfield, will assist McLaughlin and Hier with the upcoming walk-throughs at potential new locations.