Date Set For Stoneham High School Project Special Town Meeting

STONEHAM, MA — Stoneham’s new high school building project will go back before voters next month at Town Meeting after a series of major cost increases particularly over the past year.

Members of the Stoneham School Building Committee previously announced finance issues in a series of updates in recent months.

Officials last week then went back before the Select Board for a new presentation before officials formally set the date and time for a needed special Town Meeting to ask for more local funding.

The Town Meeting vote will take place on Jan. 11 at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of Stoneham Town Hall.

Officials envisioned the construction of a new Stoneham High School as a roughly $190 million project combining $49 million in state aid with just under $141 million in local dollars.

Inflation and other recent economic issues, however, have driven up costs even as work has got underway at the high school site, according to the Stoneham School Building Committee.

The committee has made more than $12 million in cuts to the project scope, moving another $4.6 million in costs to a “bid alternate” status that will leave elements available in the project plan while also allowing them to be left out of the final school building if funding constraints mandate.

Officials on Dec. 6 told the Select Board they had also lobbied the state School Building Authority for more funding beyond its planned $49 million contribution.

While state legislators were able to secure $1.3 million for the new high school through a new state spending package last month, efforts to win more dollars from the School Building Authority didn’t come to fruition, officials said.

READ: MA Spending Bill Sends $1.3 Million To Stoneham HS Building Project

The result, according to the School Building Committee is an expected cost overage that local taxpayers will be asked to help handle to finish the new high school.

Officials last week didn’t have a specific number the amount of money to be requested at Town Meeting. New bids aren’t due until Friday. Updated figures for inclusion on the Town Meeting warrant, as a result, won’t be available until next week.

In the meantime, though, officials moved forward with a community forum on Tuesday sharing updates on the high school project, recapping the journey of the project to date and discussing next steps.

Officials are now planning an additional community forum on Jan. 5 with more information ahead of Town Meeting. Information on the time and location of the Jan. 5 meeting was not available as of Wednesday night.

Interested residents can watch this month’s community forum in the meantime via Stoneham Community Access Television here.

See more project details here.