CHICOPEE – The plan to replace Anna Barry School took one step forward with the state accepting the city’s application for funding assistance after meeting with school officials and touring the building.
During the tour, officials for the Massachusetts School Building Authority said they expect some 50 applicants competing for the next round of funding. In December they will select between 10 and 20, depending on the expense of the projects and the amount of money available, said Donald J. Lamothe, a School Committee member and chairman of its facilities subcommittee.
The School Committee has talked about replacing the kindergarten through fifth grade Barry School for years. The building, constructed in 1963, has multiple problems, including an old roof, a large amount of asbestos some of which may be crumbling, single-paned windows that cannot be replaced because of the asbestos, wiring issues and it is built on multiple levels so even the first floor is mostly inaccessible for the disabled, Lamothe said.
The Department of Education decides the reimbursement rate base on the community’s poverty rate and gives bonus points for multiple factors. Officials confirmed Chicopee, where 69% of students alone are considered low-income, should be eligible for the maximum 80% reimbursement allowed, Lamothe said.
“We are at the very beginning stage of the project. There are a lot of things to still be considered as we move forward,” Mayor John L. Vieau said.
The initial proposal calls for a new school to be constructed in Garrity Grove Park, which is adjacent to Barry School. Once the building is completed, the old school would be demolished and the land where it sits would become part of the park.
The problem is state regulations require communities to replace any parkland taken for other purposes with twice the amount of open space, which could be difficult in a land-poor city. The city is now researching to see if there is a way to make an even swap, Vieau said.
The School Committee also has the option of using one of the state’s existing architectural plans to build the school to save a large amount of money in design fees, he said.
“The possibility of combining two schools together is one that we will explore,” Vieau said.
Currently, Barry has nearly 400 students. The city will have to examine upcoming student population trends, which currently show declining numbers in the lowest grades, and other factors to see if that is a viable option, he said.
State officials recommended Chicopee School Committee members examine some of the new schools built in the region, including several in Springfield and one in Easthampton, as they consider different options, Vieau said.
It is too soon to know how much a new Barry School will cost, but the price will be increased by the need to build a separate gymnasium at the school. State regulations now only reimburse communities for combined cafeteria and gymnasium space at elementary schools, Lamothe said.
The Barry School gymnasium is used constantly as overflow for high school team practices and by the Parks and Recreation Department sports. There is already a shortage of gymnasium space in the city so failing to replace the Barry gym will add to the problem, he said.
The city should have the capacity to bond for a new project without impacting the tax rate or other projects since it will pay off the bond for the library and the construction of Chicopee High School in the next two years. The city currently pays about $400,000 annually in principal and interest for the two projects, Vieau said.
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