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Selling 16 towns on a fix for Minuteman High

Students meet in a multipurpose room that serves as the cafeteria and auditorium at Minuteman High School.Kieran Kesner for The Boston Globe/Globe Freelance

As Minuteman High School in Lexington looks to provide a 21st-century education to its vocational/technical students, the building is stuck in the 1970s.

The school, built in 1972, is too large for its enrollment, needs major repairs, is not handicapped-accessible, and features an open-concept design that wastes space and makes it difficult to keep noise contained, school officials say.

“We need a new building to meet the educational needs of the future and this building doesn’t do it,’’ said Superintendent Edward Bouquillon.

For the past several years, Minuteman has tried to come up with a strategy to address the building issues, but plans have stalled over questions about cost, enrollment, and the regional agreement between the 16 member communities.

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Each community must approve the project individually for it to move forward, unless school officials decide to hold an all-district election.

So far, school officials have adopted an education plan with two new trades, designed a building for 628 students, resolved to increase enrollment from member towns, researched building options, and locked in a 40 percent state reimbursement rate for the project, Bouquillon said.

Superintendent Dr. Edward Bouquillon inside Minuteman High School. Pictured right to left, Ford Spalding and Dana Ham. Kieran Kesner for The Boston Globe/Globe Freelance

The Minuteman School Building Committee has been meeting with each town over the past several weeks to hear feedback on three options: a $176.5 million renovation, a $175.3 million renovation/addition, and a $144.9 million new school.

Ford Spalding, chairman of the building committee, said the feedback has been positive, but many residents are asking how much it will cost each town and taxpayer.

“It’s all about the cost,’’ said Spalding, who represents Dover on the Minuteman School Committee.

The member towns are Acton, Arlington, Bedford, Bolton, Boxborough, Carlisle, Concord, Dover, Lancaster, Lexington, Lincoln, Needham, Stow, Sudbury, Wayland, and Weston.

At a recent community meeting in Belmont, town officials and residents asked questions about the size of the building and whether Minuteman would be able to attract enough students to fill a school for 628 students.

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“The issue has always been about the size of the school, not whether we support building or repairing the facility,’’ said Mark Paolillo, the vice chairman of the Belmont Board of Selectmen.

Minuteman’s enrollment for the 2014-15 school year is 745. However, just 413 come from member communities, with the remaining 332 coming from such places as Boston, Medford, Waltham, and Watertown.

Member communities have raised concerns about enrollment because they don’t want to foot the bill for out-of-district students.

Ford Spalding looks inside the greenhouse at Minuteman High School.Kieran Kesner for The Boston Globe

“Belmont is not in favor of subsidizing nonmember towns at all, from a debt perspective and also from a payment perspective,’’ said Paolillo.

Over the last six years, there has been a 3 percent decline in the state’s public high school population but a 6.5 percent increase in the vocational/technical school population, said David Ferreira, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of Vocational Administrators.

But he said Minuteman is different because of its wide-ranging geographic region and high per-capita income.

Many of the towns in the district — including Concord, Carlisle, Dover, and Weston — are among the wealthiest in the state. And many of the traditional high schools are among the best in the Commonwealth.

But Bouquillon said the school is making a concerted effort to boost enrollment and maintains that most of the 628 seats in the new building will eventually be filled by member communities.

He said the school is doing more outreach and hoping to spread the word that Minuteman is also a school for college-bound students. The school is reaching out to female students interested in the so-called STEM fields — science, technology, engineering and math — and Bouquillon said he hopes a brand new building will appeal to all students.

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“We’re going to a smaller school and we’re certain that those slots will be filled from our member towns eventually,’’ Bouquillon aid.

But Pat Brown, a selectwoman in Sudbury, isn’t convinced about the enrollment numbers. She said she is eager to see what they look like in the fall because that will be the first indicator of whether recent efforts to boost enrollment are working.

Brown also said many residents are confused about where things stand. She said some towns, such as Wayland, have talked about withdrawing from the district, leaving other towns wondering who will be in the district and whether it will cost more if a town leaves.

“There have been so many moving pieces,’’ she said.

A vocational/technical school is typically 50 percent more expensive than an academic high school, Bouquillon said, because in addition to traditional classrooms, the school must include space and specialized equipment for shop instruction. Minuteman’s 16 shops range from culinary arts to biotechnology.

If Minuteman builds a $144.9 million school, projected annual costs over 30 years range from $37,432 for communities with five or fewer enrolled students to $1,487,023 for Arlington, which now sends 152 students.

The cost to towns would vary from year to year depending on enrollment fluctuations. And the impact on tax bills depends on each community’s tax base.

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Bouquillon said a new state regulation will allow Minuteman to charge nonmember towns a capital fee, determined by state education officials, that would offset the cost to member communities. However, those details are still being worked out.

Superintendent Dr. Edward Bouquillon greets a classroom full of students at Minuteman High School. Kieran Kesner for The Boston Globe

Now that the Minuteman Building Committee has visited each community, members will review the feedback and make a recommendation to the School Committee on May 11.

The School Committee will vote on a preferred option on May 19 and send it to the state for approval. A schematic design would then be presented to towns for a vote next spring.

In order for any project to advance, all member communities must support it at individual town meetings. Another option, which the district may consider, is to hold an election in all communities. All votes would be added together and the majority would win.

If the project is rejected, Bouquillon said, repairs are still needed and the towns would have to pay for them without any state support. The repairs could take up to 10 years and cost the district as much as $198 million, he said.

In December 2012, the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, which accredits public high schools, placed Minuteman on “warning’’ status solely due to the condition of the building.

There are problems with the roof, exterior shell, electrical systems, plumbing, ventilation, egress, and parking lots. The building also does not meet today’s fire and building codes or handicap-accessibility requirements. About $100 million is needed just to keep the building operational, Bouquillon said.

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“We’re trying to keep up with stuff,” Bouquillon said, “but it’s going to come over us like a wave at some point.’’

The cost of a new Minuteman High
Building a new Minuteman High School would cost $144.9 million, with $86.9 million picked up by the 16 member towns. The numbers below show the projected annual costs to communities over 30 years, based on a formula tied to enrollment, and the annual tax impact for the median home.
Town Enrollment Annual cost Median tax increase
Acton 30 $264,813 $21.67
Arlington 152 $1,487,023 $64.00
Belmont 31 $295,367 $31.82
Bolton 10 $101,850 $36.27
Boxborough 5 $40,740 $17.22
Carlisle 8 $81,480 $32.69
Concord 16 $122,221 $10.36
Dover 3 $37,432 $13.40
Lancaster 32 $325,923 $78.03
Lexington 45 $422,681 $28.44
Lincoln 6 $40,740 $15.50
Needham 24 $224,072 $9.92
Stow 19 $183,331 $46.49
Sudbury 25 $244,442 $24.82
Wayland 4 $37,432 $6.24
Weston 3 $37,432 $6.08
SOURCE:Minuteman High School
Globe Staff

Correspondent Chris Gavin contributed to this report. Jennifer Fenn Lefferts can be reached at jflefferts@yahoo.com.