Town Moving Closer to Two New Schools

Winthrop School Superintendent John Macero met Wednesday with the Massachusetts School Building Authority and said the Town is one step closer to building a new High School and Middle School facility.

In January the Winthrop School Building Assistance Committee (SBAC) voted 14-4 in favor of building a new Middle School and High School during a joint Winthrop School Building Assistance Committee/Winthrop School Committee meeting.

“We have now entered the phase of tweaking the scope and design,” said Macero. “The Massachusetts School Building Authority has approved the project so we are no working to finalize the design.”

While the design has been pretty much done for some time, Macero said the Town just needs to get closer to exact numbers.

“We have estimates on square footage and things like that but when we have exact numbers and costs that is when the Massachusetts School Building Authority will release the grant to fund the project,” said Macero. “It’s exciting because we are that much closer to building a new facility.”

Macero said if all goes well the final design will be submitted by July 31. There will be a vote on the final design before 180 days.

“We are looking at September or the latest in November for a vote,” said Macero.

The plan approved by SBAC is to renovate the existing Winthrop High School. The plan would consist of renovating the current high school and adding a second facility that would serve as the town’s middle school. The cost of that project would be $68.9 million with the town’s share of the cost set at $36 million. The other funds would come from the Massachusetts School Building Authority grant.