Legislators Seek More State Funding For Stoneham High School Project

STONEHAM, MA — State legislators representing Stoneham are in the process of pushing for more state money for Stoneham’s new high school building project amid ongoing financial concerns, the town’s School Building Committee announced on Monday.

New money hasn’t been secured yet. But officials said legislators are working on “potential solutions” that would look to respond to some supply chain and inflation-related cost increases that have hit the project.

The announcement on Monday followed a meeting exactly one week prior with Stoneham’s state legislative delegation.

In the meeting, officials said, State Sen. Jason Lewis noted $1.3 million in direct aid under an economic development bill that has passed votes in both houses of the State Legislature. That money would come to Stoneham and the high school project if the bill moves forward and gets signed into law.

Beyond economic development money, Lewis said he and State House of Representatives colleague Michael Day are “exploring other opportunities for funding that could mitigate the cost pressures,” as noted in the committee’s Monday announcement.

Possible alternative funding could include federal dollars available through the American Rescue Plan Act.

Stoneham is already set to receive aid from state School Building Authority at a rate of $360 per square-foot. Legislators are currently working to possibly increase that reimbursement, according to the committee’s comments this week.

Work is underway at the Stoneham High School site.

Initial plans for the school promised a series of amenities costing a total of $189.6 million. The state would cover a roughly $50 million share, with Stoneham shouldering the remaining cost of roughly $140 million.

A combination of inflation, supply chain issues and workforce challenges has loomed over the new high school project in recent months, though, prompting officials to announce in early October that they would likely need to go back before Town Meeting to seek more money for the high school project.

Officials previously said in September that they were considering trimming high school building plans to reduce costs in response to cost increases.

The School Building Committee addressed project changes this week, acknowledging cost reduction efforts while saying that these changes have not sacrificed "educational programming or sustainability goals."

Alongside Stoneham, Wakefield, Reading and nearby Winchester are all in various stages of their own school building processes looking to utilize state funding through the School Building Authority.

As cost issues manifest across the construction industry, discussion on the School Building Authority and its reimbursement rate recently reached the debate stage in Wakefield in mid-October in the ongoing race between Lewis and challenger Ed Dombroski to represent the Fifth Middlesex District in the State Senate.

Dombroski criticized the current reimbursement structure that the state School Building Authority uses, saying it leaves too much of a burden on municipalities.

Lewis also spoke on the issue, saying officials and legislators would have to push the state to free up more money to offset current issues.

“These school building projects as well as other public building projects…are facing incredible cost escalations and incredible pressure on their budgets,” he said.

“This is a critical issue,” he said separately.

The Stoneham School Building Committee is continuing to meet on a twice-per-month basis.

While contending with cost concerns, the committee still marked a milestone in late September when it submitted a set of 90% construction documents to the state.

The project is currently in its next phase of pricing, according to the School Building Committee’s update on Monday.