Overview:
The first public information session was held for the new school project at Franklin County Technical School, with questions from the public about cost, town votes, and transition plans. The new school building is estimated to cost $246 million and would house around 600 students. The design of the new school is a 152,785-square-foot, L-shaped building that would separate the vocational shops from academic spaces on the first floor. The cost to the towns for rehabilitating the existing building would be around $74 million, which would require a roof replacement, a new electrical and mechanical system, new plumbing, water and sewer, a sprinkler system and a carpentry dust collector.
GREENFIELD — At the first of three scheduled public information sessions, members of the public asked about questions about cost, town votes, and transition plans for the new building project for Franklin County Technical School.
The information session was held at Greenfield Community College the evening of Nov. 10, with members of the Franklin Tech school committee, school staff, and members of regional town boards in attendance. FCTS Superintendent Richard Martin gave a presentation on the project, then took questions that largely centered on the impact on member towns and students. Owners Project Manager Tim Alix of Colliers, Inc. and Julie Spence of Lavallee Brensinger Architects were also present to answer questions.
The design of the new school is a 152,785-square-foot, L-shaped building that would house around 600 students and is estimated to cost $246 million. Martin said during the meeting that more finalized construction costs and the assessed cost to each town will be known by February 2026.
Martin explained that the estimated reimbursement from the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) at this point is around 46%, but it could be closer to 50% in the future. The net share to the member towns would be between $129 million and $135 million, with around $120 million reimbursed.
As previously reported by the Greenfield Recorder, the L-shaped design took community access, noise control between academic and vocational spaces, fire safety, and courtyard space and accessibility into consideration. In this design, an L-shaped corridor and courtyard would separate the vocational shops from academic spaces on the first floor.
Martin stressed that the cost of this construction is more cost-effective and sustainable than rehabilitating the current building, with infrastructure that is now 50 years old since the school opened in 1975.
“The exterior of the building looks, I think, great,” Martin said, adding that students have been stewards of the building upkeep. “It is the interior stuff that has really added up over time.”
The presentation explained that it would cost the towns around $74 million to rehabilitate the existing building and bring it up to code, which would require a roof replacement, a new electrical and mechanical system, new plumbing, water and sewer, a sprinkler system and a carpentry dust collector. This would be done without MSBA reimbursement and without improvements for educational spaces, energy efficiency, acoustics, and sustainability.
Deerfield Selectboard Chair Trevor McDaniel shared his thoughts about the logistics of the September vote.
“It’s tough for the towns to get the staff together to do an election, so we could group it with something that would be great,” he said about a vote in September that could be grouped with the primary election that year.
Martin said that expense-wise, Franklin Tech would be covering costs for any special election necessary for this project through expected reimbursements from the feasibility study phase.
Buckland Finance Committee member Paula Consolo asked about how the assessment to each town would be done for the split of the project’s cost. Martin said an equalized valuation formula would be used to share the cost, and per the Franklin Tech website, this includes each town’s property value, relative income and the number of enrolled students.
Consolo also asked about the retention of existing new buildings like the aviation maintenance hangar and the veterinary clinic buildings, both of which will remain the same, Martin said.
“Looking at the existing school building now, how much of it will be preserved, or is any of it salvageable, or is it all headed for demolition?” Robert Miller, Franklin Tech School Committee member asked.
Martin said that, given the age of the building and the options already explored for maintaining it, that the negatives would outweigh the benefits, and the building as it stands now will be demolished for the new school.
As for the impact on the students’ education during the construction period, Spence said the new school will be built behind the existing school’s footprint and fenced off. As the project progresses, the logistical planning will be done by Lavalle Brensinger to reduce impacts to the existing building while school is in session.
“There’s tie-ins to sewer, there’s tie-ins to electrical, there’s tie-ins to everything. Everything’s going to be planned to be on non-educational days. It’s all part of what we have to plan out,” she clarified. “And ideally, [students] just pick up their pens and pencils and they move over to the new school, and it’s done.”
More information sessions have been scheduled for Monday, Feb. 9, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the GCC dining commons. The community is again invited to learn more about the project and ask questions. A third session is scheduled for Monday, May 4, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the GCC dining commons. A web page dedicated to the MSBA project is available on the Franklin Tech website at https://www.fcts.us/apps/pages/msba.