Framingham Superintendent: Buying Bethany Property Will Not End School Choice

Town Meeting members will be asked to authorize the Town of Framingham to purchase 12 acres of property on Bethany Road for a future new Framingham Public School on Feb. 23.

Framingham Selectmen unanimously supported the school project 5-0, Tuesday night.

Selectmen also unanimously called for the Special Town Meeting in early 2016.

Earlier this month, Framingham School Committee unanimously supported the idea to purchase 12 acres of land from the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph, at 85 Bethany Road, for a future new school.

Framingham Patch was the first media outlet to publish details about the plan to purchase land for a new school.

Framingham Superintendent of Schools Stacy Scott told Selectmen the land is needed for a future elementary or middle school to deal with rising enrollment in the public school district.

“We believe the Bethany property gives us an (option) to deal with this problem,” said Scott Tuesday night.

Framingham Public Schools has seen incoming kindergarten classes of 700-plus students for the last 5 years.

Framingham Public Schools opened the former King Administration Building as an elementary school last year with just kindergarten classes. This year, the aging school has both K and first grade classes. The goal is for the school to eventually be a K-5 elementary school, the ninth in the district.

But last night, Scott told Selectmen the building can not sustain an elementary school for long.

The Superintendent said a majority of the district’s enrollment is now on the south side and there are not enough schools south of Route 9 for those students.

Scott, in his presentation to Selectmen, said 680 elementary students live within one mile of 85 Bethany Road.

Editor’s note: in full transparency, my home would be considered an abutter to the property.

Selectman Cheryl Tully Stoll asked Scott if the purchase of the Bethany property would eliminate school choice, and create neighborhood schools.

Scott said no.

The Superintendent said the district’s “controlled” school choice program would need to stay in place until the district could “create consistent quality across the system” and have “equitable operations” at each school, that ”everyone can walk to.”

Built in 1964, the Bethany Hill site consists of a 32-acre campus, with a 109,945 square foot residence hall (180 dorm units), and a 10,000 square foot administration building.

It is zoned R-3, for educational, religious, non-profit or single family. Assisted living and congregate care is available with a special permit.

Framingham Town Manager Bob Halpin said the Town would be looking to purchase about 12 acres from the Sisters.

The land was on the market at $1 million an acre, said Halpin.

The Sisters agreed to take it off the market, to allow the Town to purchase a part of the property, said Halpin.

The land is divided into a 20-acre parcel and a 12-acre parcel. Halpin told Patch that the Town may negotiate for a different 12 acre parcel with the 32 acres.

With the unanimous support of Framingham School Committee and Framingham Selectmen, an appraisal of the land will take place next, and then negotiations with the Sisters for a purchase price for the land will happen.

The next major step will be a vote of Town Meeting to authorize that purchase.

For the past two years, the Framingham Public School district has applied to the state for assistance in dealing with the overcrowding at the middle school level, specifically to renovate Fuller Middle School or make improvements to the adjacent former Farley School.

The district has been rejected for funding twice.

The district applied a third time for state funding this year, and is expected to receive an answer later this month or early January, said Scott.

If the state approves the application, a feasibility study will be conducted to help determine what is the best school needed in Framingham to deal with overcrowding.

The Framingham submissions denied requested funding to conduct a feasibility study, conceptualize and plan renovations, identify funds for the estimated $48 million Fuller-Farley project, and ultimately break ground and complete construction.

The application in 2014 not funded proposed a possible K-8 model, to deal with overcrowding in the middle and elementary school levels.

Framingham applied to the state to be eligible for state funding for the project.

Framingham is eligible, if approved by the state, for up to 59 percent reimbursement of the project.

Last year, the state approved about a dozen applications for funding out of more than 100 requests.

Selectmen last night said they supported the idea of a new K-8 school on the Bethany Road property, as opposed to the former Fuller-Farley option to deal with overcrowding in the district.

“To me this is a 110 percent win-win solution,” said Selectman Jason Smith, the only Selectman to have children in the school system.

He said it was a “unique opportunity,” and it would be great for Selectmen and School Committee to go to Town Meeting ”united with one voice.”

Smith said he much rather support a new school on the south side than renovations at Fuller-Farley.

“The price spent there (Bethany) is better than money spent at Fuller,” said Smith. “This is the location we need. It solves a lot of issues.”

“I’m in full support of this,” said Framingham Selectman Mike Bower, a former School Committee Chair. “This is the most important project the Town will undertake in the next decade.”

Bower said a K-8 school on that site is the best solution.

“I will whole-heartedly go into Town Meeting supporting this,” said Bower, who added he is “crossing his fingers” and “lighting candles in church” that the state approves funding for Framingham this third time around.

Selectman Laurie Lee also said she would like to see a K-8 school on that site, as did Selectman Stoll.

Scott said the earliest construction could begin on a school at the Bethany site is 2018.