WHAT

1. What are the options? What are the current options? Who will go to this new school?
   • The enrollment options which we were allowed to study are PreK-K, PreK-3 and PreK-5.
   • Options other than just rebuilding the Wildwood will merge 2 or 3 current school populations into a single school. Those schools include Wildwood, Woburn Street, and North Intermediate School.
   • The selected option to move forward must include the Wildwood population.
2. How many options have been studied so far?
   • The Design Team presented 18 options which included renovation, addition, and new construction of the Wildwood, Woburn Street, North Intermediate and Town Hall sites
   • The committee created a rating matrix which reviewed education, site, restrictions, community, sustainability, logistics, consolidation, time to complete, and cost.
3. High school sized gym?
   • Currently two schools have operational gyms: Woburn Street and the North Intermediate. Consolidation of 3 schools to 2 or 1 will potentially reduce Town gymnasium spaces.
   • A high school sized gym is being explored for the consolidation of the 3 schools. As this gym would be larger than the MSBA will participate in, the districts share will be more.
   • This one gym would be larger and allow for 2 courts to be used simultaneously.
4. Will there be access to the Gym, Cafeteria, and/or Auditorium for use by others? What other benefits are there for the community from this project?
   • The School will be defined by Administrative, Academic, and Public spaces. As part of the design, the intent is to separate PUBLIC spaces with locking doors to prevent people from accessing ACADEMIC spaces during off-hours.
   • The gym would be available off-hours for indoor athletics.
   • The stage, which would be located in the Cafeteria, could be used as an Auditorium during off-hours.
5.  Is parking and traffic being studied?
   • Yes, traffic planning and parking are being studied as part of this project.
6.  What is the environmental impact of this project?
   • The MSBA has a minimum requirement we must meet for the environment.
   •  The Committee would like environmental input on this and other aspects of the project. There is a Working Group that will be collaborating with the Design Team to determine the sustainability goals of the project.

WHY

1.  Why are we doing any project? Why are we doing this now?
   • The age of Wilmington’s 6 elementary schools each exceed 50+ years old.
   • When the 2018 Town Facilities Master Plan was completed, it promoted consolidation.
   • Current elementary school facilities do not meet modern educational programming or space needs.
   •  The Town submitted a Statement of Interest with the MSBA in 2020 which partners with Cities and Towns in the Commonwealth to help fund school projects. The Wildwood School was accepted into the program with the understanding that as part of the Statement of Interest, the Town requested the ability to look at 3 different enrollment options, PK-K (130 students plus PK), PK-3 (550 students plus PK), and PK-5 (755 student plus PK).
   • With the partnership of the MSBA, the Wilmington taxpayers would not be burdened with the full amount of the project. Through the MSBA’s grant process, the District will pay a portion of the costs and the MSBA shares in the cost.
2.  What if we do nothing? What if we just fix the existing schools?
   • The existing conditions studies estimated each school needs $26M to $40M in repairs just to continue to operate. This does not fix the educational programming or space needs. It only brings the buildings up to Building Code. Although not all the repairs would need to be done at once, the cost of construction continues to escalate every year.
   • The potential for systems and/or components of the buildings to fail increases greatly as they age, as the buildings are over 50 years old.
3.  Why was the Wildwood School chosen? What other schools are under consideration?
   • Statements of Interest were submitted for all 6 schools in 2020. The Wildwood School was determined to be the most in need.
   • The Wildwood School was accepted into the program and as part of the Statement of Interest, the Town requested they be able to look at 3 different enrollment options, PK- K (130 students plus PK), PK-3 (550 students plus PK), and PK-5 (755 student plus PK) The additional schools that were included in the Statement of Interest are Woburn St., and North Intermediate Schools.
   • The Statement of Interests that were submitted to the MSBA were approved by the school department, school committee and select board.

WHO

1.  What/Who is the OPM?
   • The Owner’s Project Manager (OPM) provides project management services to an Owner throughout the life of the Project. Consequently, an Owner will work closely with its OPM from the earliest stages of the project through the project’s completion. The selection of a qualified OPM is one of the most important decisions an Owner will make to the project as the OPM has extensive experience on MSBA projects. In the fall of 2022, the School Building Committee began the process to select the OPM as set forth by the MSBA. In November of 2022, the School Building Committee voted to recommend SMMA to the MSBA’s Owner’s Project Manager Selection Panel for approval. On December 5, 2022, the MSBA approved our selection of SMMA as our Owner’s Project Manager.
2.  What/Who is the Designer?
   • The Designer is primarily responsible for working with the District to complete all the objectives outlined in the Feasibility and Schematic Design phase of the project. The selection of a Designer must follow a specific process as outlined by the MSBA. The MSBA Designer Selection Panel (DSP) has jurisdiction over the procurement of Designers. The DSP includes 13 representatives appointed by the MSBA and 3 representatives from the Town. At the MSBA’s Designer Selection Panel meeting on March 28, 2023, Dore + Whittier were selected as the Designer for the Town of Wilmington.
3.  What is the School Building Committee?

• The School Building Committee was formed for the purpose of generally monitoring the application process to the MSBA and to advise the Town during construction of an approved project. (963 CMR 2.00)
•  The School Building Committee includes representatives from the Select Board, Finance Committee, Permanent Building Committee, School Committee, School Faculty, and Town parents.

4. What is the MSBA?

• From the MSBA website: “The Massachusetts School Building Authority ("MSBA") is a quasi-independent government authority created to reform the process of funding capital improvement projects in the Commonwealth’s public schools. The MSBA strives to work with local communities to create affordable, sustainable, and energy efficient schools across Massachusetts.”
• The MSBA, which has a dedicated revenue stream to support its work, collaborates with municipalities to “equitably invest in finding the right-sized, most fiscally responsible and educationally appropriate solutions to create safe, sound, and sustainable learning environments.”
• In its ten-year history, the MSBA has funded more than $12.8 billion in reimbursements to cities, towns, and regional school districts for school construction projects. Instead of waiting years for reimbursement, districts now receive payments from the MSBA as costs are incurred, usually within 15 days of submission.

WHEN

1. What is the timeline for approvals? When will this happen?
   • We will be taking the short-listed options which include renovation, addition / renovation, and new construction and present them to the School Building Committee in August. The one preferred option will be selected in August 2024. Once that is done, Dore+Whittier will continue to design the one preferred option. In April of 2025, the project team will work with the MSBA to finalize the Project Scope and Budget Agreement which will confirm the MSBA and Town’s share of the selected project. The Town will vote on this in Spring of 2025.

WHERE 

1. How many options have been studied so far?

• Started with 18 options based on renovation, addition, and new construction at Wildwood, Woburn Street, North and Town Hall sites.

HOW

1. How much will the school cost us? How will this impact my taxes?
   • MSBA will contribute tens of millions of dollars.
   • The estimated cost ranges from $29M to $215M based on the school size.
   • In April of 2025, the project team will work with the MSBA to finalize the Project Scope and Budget Agreement which will confirm the MSBA and Town’s share of the selected project.
2. What will be the ongoing process for addressing community concerns? 

•  We welcome your feedback through email, attending the School Building Committee meetings, and upcoming Community Forums.