School feasibility study teed up for fall Special Town Meeting

What can residents expect at the fall Special Town Meeting where they will likely be asked to fund a school feasibility study?

The School Building Committee has been at work for the last few months, submitting its educational profile and enrollment projections to the Massachusetts School Building Committee (MSBA). Its next round of deadlines is Sept. 28, when it must submit information about maintenance and capital planning.

From there, the School Building Committee is expected to come before voters at the fall Special Town Meeting to request money to fund a feasibility study. The school building project must secure this funding by Dec. 28 to remain in the state’s project pipeline, as the state imposed a 270-day deadline that began April 1.

School Building Committee Chair Ken Newberg said they have been checking off each of the MSBA’s requirements and that residents are going to receive more information once the school year begins and the board reconvenes.

“Everything is going as it should, and I’m thrilled with the composition of our committee,” Newberg said. “People are really engaged and interested in the project, and it will be nice when we really get going to answer those really important questions that we just don’t have answers for yet.”

Initial estimates, which are not set in stone, hover around $3 million for the feasibility study, which will push the project through module four of the MSBA’s building project pipeline – it is currently in module one, the eligibility period. Modules two through four encompass the formation of the project team and completion of the feasibility study and schematic design.

The MSBA will reimburse a minimum of 31% of all eligible project costs, and there are opportunities to pick up additional reimbursements throughout the project, according to Newberg.

Being enrolled in the eligibility period does not guarantee any funding, nor does it require Weston to go forward with the campus project. The School Committee’s feasibility study in late 2025 laid out cost estimates ranging from $172 million to repair and maintain the current buildings to $441 million to build two new school buildings. The MSBA-eligible option is estimated at $329 million and would create two connected schools on the east side of the campus, but that concept – and price – could change based on state input.

Newberg noted the state feasibility study could come up with different options than those explored last year, and many questions will be answered as the project continues to progress.

“When people start talking numbers, those are all very, very broad theoretical numbers not based off any type of design,” Newberg said. “The questions and answers are going to come through this feasibility study and schematic design; that’s why we need the $3 million, which will hopefully be closer to $2 million when you account for reimbursement.”

The committee is currently on hiatus until the end of August, but residents are encouraged to engage with the School Building Committee when it returns to work.

“What does Weston want? There are a lot of things that can come out of this, and I’m excited to see what the community decides,” Newberg said. “We’re going to have to spend a lot of money; I think we should still maximize values for our kids and the community.”