Proposed GMS project takes next step with MSBA visit

The Canton Public Schools have cleared the first major hurdle in a multi-step process to obtain funding from the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) for a possible renovation/expansion or replacement of the Galvin Middle School.

William H. Galvin Middle School

As detailed by Interim Superintendent Derek Folan at last Thursday’s School Committee meeting, Canton was recently notified that the MSBA, a quasi-independent government agency, would be conducting a senior study visit for the GMS project — marking an important milestone in the path toward eventual funding eligibility.

“This is really exciting and thrilling news for the community,” remarked Folan, who highlighted the extraordinary amount of work put in by various district leaders over the past several years to reach this stage.

While cautioning that it is still very early in the process and no commitments have been made on either end, Folan said the news is nonetheless encouraging as CPS was one of only 20 districts that were chosen to receive a site visit out of the roughly 50 that submitted a formal Statement of Interest (SOI). It also marks a clear step forward for Canton following SOI rejections in 2018, 2019 and 2020, although in each instance the district was encouraged to reapply.

“This is just one step moving forward into the senior study,” noted Folan. “But I think anything involving the advancement and improvement of our buildings or any [new developments] involving the schools is really exciting.”

According to CPS Finance Director Stephen Marshall, the senior study visit will kick off with a virtual meeting on October 22 between school, town, and MSBA representatives, followed by a physical tour of the school on October 26.

In making its initial pitch to the MSBA for a new or rebuilt middle school, Canton officials drew on the school district’s long-range Facilities Master Plan — a comprehensive document prepared in 2018 by Dore and Whittier Architects with significant stakeholder input. The master plan analyzed every CPS facility and identified the Galvin as the school with the most deficiencies with regard to “size, systems and obsolescence,” thus hampering its ability to provide a “full range of programming consistent with the school department’s educational vision.”

Interim Assistant Superintendent and former GMS Principal Sarah Shannon, along with Interim GMS Principal Dr. Michael Green — who both have experience with MSBA-funded projects in other school districts — will be working with the School Committee, Folan and Marshall to coordinate Canton’s plan for the visit. Select Board Chair Mike Loughran, who worked on the Facilities Master Plan when he was chair of the School Committee, will also be consulted.

Following the completion of the senior study visits, the MSBA will provide invitations for projects to enter the eligibility period, with notifications expected sometime in January. If invited into the eligibility period, next steps would include a request from town meeting for a feasibility study and schematic design. Local funding would need to be secured, although Marshall cautioned that nothing has been set in stone and every step in the process would have “lots of discussions involving lots of stakeholders.”

Shannon told the School Committee that the areas she will focus on with the MSBA include the Galvin’s educational philosophy, its overall physical deficiencies and overcrowding challenges, and how the building is currently used …

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Posted by Mike Berger on Oct 15 2021. Filed under News, Schools. Both comments and pings are currently closed.