Letter to the Editor: Yes for Success

I thought it might be helpful to share my thoughts on the Combined Middle/High School situation. I believe there is little doubt from the vast majority of voters and the children (whom cannot vote) that North Reading is in dire need of upgraded facilities, which was proven out last year with the approximate 4 to 1 approval of voters. I approved the first vote and will support this additional one without reservation, but certainly with disappointment.

After listening to the meetings to review the latest proposal to address the unanticipated increase, I learned that the cause of the “miss” is frankly the “system” and process that has been set up by our state to fund and oversee School Building, namely our State Government’s MSBA (Massachusetts State Building Authority). The North Reading Secondary School Building Committee (NRSSBC) adhered to their REQUIRED process and timeline, racing to the finish line to get funding, competing with towns across the Commonwealth by  submitting approval for funds at the 20 percent plan completion. Otherwise the project would have missed the funding timeline by the MSBA, putting the project at the end of the line with questionable prospects.

The NRSSBC has to work with the MSBA if our town wants to get matching funds. Without those match funds, the school would be unaffordable to North Reading taxpayers alone. Because of this cooperation, we have an approximate 47 percent match and the maximum possible MSBA funding. The NRSSBC has done what it could to remove as much as feasible based upon the projected shortfall. What I learned also, is that there is nothing more that can be done besides cutting critical features, which will additionally cause even more of our tax dollars to be forfeited because of delays, as well as the forfeit of some matching funds potentially for removal of features previously approved.

In addition to the lost originally planned features, the cost of NOT approving this additional funding is high.   The clock cannot be turned back. The project cannot be redesigned, re-estimated, or resized to the currently approved amount, because of the State Government’s MSBA requirements not because of the North Reading School Building Committee.   So I am not taking out my “anger” by voting “no.” Therefore, I believe the only useful outlet for “anger” is with the State Government’s MSBA process requirements, not our children, local officials, or North Reading Secondary School Building Committee.

As a resident of North Reading for nearly 20 years, I can recall my own childhood schools in suburban Indianapolis, far from Massachusetts, but not unlike North Reading demographically. Those Middle/High School facilities 35 years ago were far from new in the 1970s but they still had the vast majority of the proposed features approved last year for these facilities today, less the now critical  technology component. They had for instance, significant science laboratory facilities to allow for experimentation, demonstration, and discovery, auditorium, stage and seats for theater programs, and, yes, even Tennis courts.

The gap in funding now requested and the features that would be forfeited mean we cannot even live up to this comparison from 35 years ago.  I’m not talking about today in Newton, Weston, or the other “wealthy” suburban towns in Massachusetts, but the standard for high schools 35 years ago in Indiana.  

As parent of a college freshman, high school senior, and seventh grader, I know our children are competing against children across the country and the world.     This year, Boston University had over 4,000 undergraduate applicants from China and nearly 1000 from India, almost 10 percent of all applications for the class of 2017, and more than enough to fill the entire BU freshman class. As an Engineer in Technology Sales, I know we need to continue to foster innovation in Massachusetts in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), in which we are falling behind. These fields are critical for  jobs in our economy where Biotech, Financial, Healthcare, Defense, and Technology areas are top employers.

The combined middle school/high school when funded completely will provide the facilities to assist our local children in competing in these fields and many others. The current facilities we have now do not, and neither will the new schools without the new approval of funds to complete construction as originally planned. We cannot fall short of that at the 11^th hour. If a “no” vote is intended to say “start over, work with what the voters have approved and not a penny more,” that is not really feasible or possible. A “no” vote is really a protest that does not accomplish much for the children or the taxpayers. A “yes” vote is a commitment to success. Thanks to the voters as well as the citizen volunteers on the North Reading Secondary School Building Committee for their vision and commitment.   

Mark Roesch