Regional Meeting regarding Pentucket Contingency Plan and Middle/High School Project

Officials from Groveland, Merrimac and West Newbury — the three towns that make up Pentucket — will meet to share information on the proposed school building for grades seven through 12.

Both the middle and high school buildings, which were designed and constructed in the 1950s, have outlived their useful lives and are in need of significant physical improvements to extend their purpose for another 50 years.

The proposed building project is expected to receive an estimated 40 percent reimbursement from the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) and will:

• Create a middle school and high school building that will be used for the next half century.
• Address the infrastructure of the high school, which cannot be replaced without repairing the entire building — a venture that would cost more than $70 million without any MSBA reimbursement.
• Provide an optimal learning environment for students, including updated science labs and modern learning spaces where collaboration and technology are focal points
• Replace corroding pipes in the middle and high school
• Remove all hazardous materials that are currently found throughout the buildings

Next month, the district will have a more exact estimate of project costs, which are currently estimated at $155.2 million. With the MSBA’s support, Pentucket taxpayers would be responsible for $95.2 million of the project’s cost. Residents will first vote on the project at their spring town meetings, and if the measure passes, it will also require voter approval on the ballot in May.

“With representatives from all three towns present at this meeting, this is a great opportunity for residents to come find out more about the project and ask questions,” Superintendent Bartholomew said. “Our goal is to ensure that every voter is fully informed on the scope of this work and what it means for our students, communities and taxpayers.”