Wakefield To Talk High School Project At Community Forum

WAKEFIELD, MA — Wakefield will hold another community forum this week to provide updates on work toward a new high school building in town, the town announced earlier this month.

The forum is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. It will take place both virtually and in-person, focusing on recent design progress and sustainability options for the planned new school, as noted in the town’s announcement.

In person attendance is permitted at the Wakefield Community Access TV studio at the current Wakefield Memorial High School at 60 Farm Street. The community access studio is located on the back of the high school building next to the high school Field House entrance.

Anyone interested in attending via Zoom can do so using the online meeting link or by dialing in at (309) 205 3325. The meeting ID is 817 3992 2560.

Wakefield Community Access will also be broadcasting the presentation.

Efforts to renovate the existing Wakefield Memorial High School or build an entirely new high school date back at least to 2019, when the town submitted a statement of interest to the Massachusetts Schools Building Authority related to the project.

More than three years later, the town is eyeing the option of building a new high school. Costs could number around $220 million, according to town forecasts in April of this year, with the school building authority covering roughly $57 million.

That would leave Wakefield spending close to $163 million, translating to a local tax impact of $1.56 on every $1,000 of assessed residential property value, according to those same April town documents.

See more on the high school project here.