Overview:
The Athol-Royalston Regional School District has been entered into the Massachusetts School Building Authority's feasibility study to determine whether Athol High School should be renovated or replaced. The current high school, which was designed for a different model of education, has deficiencies in classroom design and accessibility challenges. The study is estimated to cost $1.3 million and will be funded upfront using school choice funds, with roughly 80% expected to be reimbursed by the MSBA.
ATHOL – The Athol-Royalston Regional School District is moving forward with a feasibility study through the Massachusetts School Building Authority to determine whether Athol High School should be renovated or replaced.
The district was invited into the feasibility study phase in December 2024 after submitting a statement of interest outlining deficiencies in the building. The district’s next steps include issuing a request for services to hire an owner’s project manager and forming a building committee with community representation.
Matt Donovan, director of administration and operations at the MSBA, said the process requires districts to compare the cost of multiple options.
“They have to look at a renovation of the current building… a renovation and addition project… how much that costs… and then how much it would cost to do a new project,” Donovan said.
ARRSD Superintendent Matthew Ehrenworth said the study will bring in outside designers and engineers to evaluate the building and determine what direction makes the most sense.
“The feasibility study is that portion where the designers come in and they inspect the properties, they see what the needs are, and they start planning for what could be… and then at the end of that process… there’s a decision as to whether or not we would go in a direction of renovating or rebuilding,” Ehrenworth said.
Ehrenworth said the feasibility study is estimated to cost about $1.3 million and will be funded upfront using school choice funds, with roughly 80% expected to be reimbursed by the MSBA.
“We’d rather have a full picture painted before we ask the community to support something,” he said, emphasizing that the district is funding the study only, not a full construction project.
For AHS Principal David King, the feasibility study represents something the district has been working toward for years.
“I think for me it’s a sense of hope. There’s been talk about providing better facilities for our high school students since 1996,” King said.
The current high school, he said, was designed for a very different model of education and no longer supports how students learn today. Facilities Director TJ Mallet said that is especially evident in classroom design, which has remained unchanged since the building opened.
“Since 1958, there hasn’t been any change to classroom size… the classroom sizes that are there right now do not meet MSBA standards,” Mallet said, adding that the rectangular layout can make it harder for students seated farther back to hear and fully engage.
He also pointed to accessibility challenges throughout the building.
“If you’re a student on the lower level… you have to go to another floor to get to a restroom,” he said.
As the district has expanded programming, including early college offerings, staff have had to re-purpose existing classroom space.
“We have commandeered numerous classrooms and reconverted them into office spaces based on some of the mental health offerings that we now have,” King said.
Ehrenworth said those changes reflect how the building is being used today.
“We’re trying to prepare kids for real-world careers,” Ehrenworth said. “Our programs need to train kids how to use equipment… how to have the skills and use the machinery and tools that are in the current trades.”
He said the study could lead to broader changes across the district, including adjustments to grade configuration and the potential addition of a pre-kindergarten center connected to early childhood education.
“This high school project is not just about the high school,” he said.