Andover Approves School Construction Funding At Special Town Meeting

ANDOVER, MA — The West Elementary and Shawsheen Preschool construction project will continue on schedule after Andover voters approved additional funding at Thursday's Special Town Meeting.

The meeting, which took place at the Collins Center, required a two-thirds majority vote in favor of a supplemental appropriation for the project.

Now, construction, which began this past spring, is expected to remain on schedule, according to those close to the project. The new West Elementary School is scheduled to open in August 2024, with Shawsheen Preschool expected to open the following year.

"The (West Elementary and Shawsheen Preschool Building) Committee is grateful to the voters who supported this funding request in order for the project to continue and to stay on schedule," Joel Blumstein, chairman of the West Elementary and Shawsheen Preschool Building Committee, said, according to a news release put out by Andover Public Schools.

Blumstein continued: "The committee has worked tirelessly, especially in these past few months, to provide transparent information and to reduce the impact of project cost increases on the community."

According to the building committee, the school construction project faced a budget deficit due to many factors, including: supply chain issues, labor shortages, inflation, and the war in Ukraine.

In September, the building committee said that it would take $19 million to cover the remaining costs of construction. Though representatives from the committee made it clear the figure was a projection.

By December, the project's team had worked to reduce the budget deficit to $16.4 million. At that figure, the average annual tax impact of the borrowing will be approximately $63 dollars for taxpayers, according to those close to the project.

"We worked to develop a plan that leveraged a series of funding sources in order to manage the impact to taxpayers," said Andrew Flanagan, the Andover Town Manager. "I want to thank the hard work of town and school staff, the building committee, and our architects, construction manager and project manager for keeping the potential impacts to taxpayers front and center as we developed our plan for addressing the budget shortfall."

Dr. Magda Parvey, the superintendent of Andover Public Schools, called the approval of the additional funding "a critical step forward" for a project that will positively impact families, students and staff in the district.

"I appreciate the dedication of the community on behalf of our students," Parvey said. "It is encouraging to know students and staff across the district will benefit from the completion of these schools and the educational opportunities these new facilities will provide."