>> Yeah. >> So many you got to prioritize and and that's what we're trying to figure out is what are we going to do in year one and you know how what can we kick down the road and that's what we're you know we end up kicking a lot of stuff. Yeah, we're in a series of kicking. Um, which is again, I've mentioned it before, I'll say it again. It's so frustrating. It's a rubber band that's going to snap at some point and it's horrifying. Um, the scoping of the turf field, we talked about that, I don't know, two meetings ago. Did we >> didn't we like kind of sign papers or I'm just wonder that was for design >> the status? I'm wondering. >> Yeah. So, so they did the initial design work that came back at the $2 million that's reflected here. And that includes the turf field, um the track and the track replacement.
Uh, I will say with this one, do you want to talk about >> uh are expensive? >> Yeah. So, we uh we uh I actually um went through CROGC and then what's the other uh Omnia >> to try to get some uh preferred pricing. So, we did we got design uh build assessment for the upper playground at Dittle School. >> Uh which I thought that 250 was going to be rather close and we were 50,000 off. It came in at 300,000. So, um that's a job right now. I'm trying to have it repriced to have local site contractors be able to do a portion of it to try to bring it within budget, but I'm not confident. But, um, just equipment, playground equipment installation, um, is about $170,000. So, equipment pieces are as much as 50 and $60,000. It's absolutely incredible the cost, but that's that's kind of what it is.
Is there a possibility? Let's let's assume that we break away and we can't house a particular students needs. Um I'm assuming that the co-op will still be able to take those kids. You assume wrong. >> Uhhuh. >> So in order for the co-op to be to be successful, they really can't allow an alocart system. >> Okay. or everyone would probably leave and say, "Well, we're just gonna we just want this service or that service." >> And I I totally understand that and I can respect that. Um >> so, no. And so, that's a big part of the decision- making knowing that we will have students that >> um have uh the need for resources that they might just be a one. And so that's when when you have a pool of students that need similar resources, >> then one staff member, one staff member plus a pair, you know, you can handle those types of things and the funding that comes along with that make it >> make it doable outside of co-op environment, >> right?
Nice shot. Here we go. Fast break. Textbook, Kevin. Textbook. That was great. Yeah, that worked out well. >> on a three is working it through the middle. Up to uh get it up to Maggie like that. Certainly looked like Maggie had a shot, but she recognized the better shot was for her to pass it to to Lily and Fast break's all about drive drawing the defense in. Right, Kev? Get that defender to bite and then that's when you can dish off the open person. So, textbook uh fast break play by Ashland there. Goal number five on the day for Lily Vitti. Assist number two for Maggie McGinness in addition to two goals. She's got to be close to 100, I think, by now. How many did she get last game? Probably the same number, right? So, she's got to be close to getting 100 goals.
So, not just the top layer, but the asphalt underneath as well. Um so, SLR, who's the company that did the design work, they if we moved any further with them with the design, you know, we'd want to in include it in this capital project. So, like that $2 million is included like for any permitting and all of their oversight of the construction management, but I think that um there isn't really like a next um step with them until you know we move forward and get this approved. >> Okay. Thank you. Yeah, another safety issue that's on my mind as well as um parents of their athletes. So, thank you. And one of the things that we discussed is being proactive with the public and and getting the word out and, you know, trying to explain why it is that we need to do the turf and and and the track um and just have it in everybody's face before the referendum.
>> Yeah. So this is the rendering for Dittle. I'm sorry it's small. I can pass this >> over. But um >> I think that a question here is this >> this is the upper one upper playground on the upper lot. >> So this capital plan was put together before this the totals came out and the estimates came out. So I think there's a question here of you know we had split 250 and 250 but do we want to combine that for the you know actual potential cost of dittle like combine that into one year? Um, >> wait a second. SP for me because and I'll just point out this referendum required doesn't make sense to me because it's two different schools which I figured would not be combined to the referendum district. >> Oh, playgrounds for the whole district. >> So there is a potential that we separate and say do a little playground I guess.
So largely why the co-op formed and why co-ops form across the state not our not as big as ours typically but a co-op of four five six school district is because of the situations [clears throat] don't sure question >> um what we've been studying I think I've talked about this a little bit next slide um our ability to make our you know right now I'm I'm one of 12 superintendents on a council that meets every month to make decisions for to being independent. We get to we would make our we would make the decisions. The board would be involved in any decision-m process that would uh relate to staffing, funding, pay, you know, determine someone's salary and things of benefits. But really, when you create that independence, you feel like you could create a situation be be more responsive in a in a more timely fashion if we were independent.
I know she has 100 points, but Yeah, she she'll be getting to 100 points in the next week or so. I think that's probably point 90 or so. We still have 12 minutes and 30 seconds left of this game. So, let's see what Erin Hickey, nice pass over to Lily. Lily's going to take it to X looking for someone to be cut in the middle. Let's open up that offense. See what Maggie can do here. 18 seconds left. Yeah. Draw and dump's not there. I think I would try to hold this for another few seconds to avoid giving Duxbury a chance, but at this point I think it'd be highly unlikely that they could get down the field and Well, stranger things have happened, Kevin. That's for sure. >> Ashland does have a history of giving up last second goals, I would have to say.
And >> I would agree >> educating people out there about it. >> Mr. White, go ahead. Yeah, thank you for that. With regard, particularly with regard to um the turf and the loading dock, I uh I am generally supportive of it, but I I definitely am going to want to hear from the board of ed, the town council as well. Um if the council is interested in moving it forward, I would like to hear a plan for increasing public awareness. I think it's I think it'll be really important because these both they both failed a referendum last year and I think people are going to be pretty annoyed having to um vote on it again. Like I said, I do generally support both of them, but there's got to be a real plan to explain it to people. And then um one other thing um Mark had mentioned just to explain this a little bit further to the public.
>> So that really needs to be kind of be re-evaluated because now Chapman, Darcy and the old Martin have gone away. So the new schools have brand new playgrounds. So really it's only going to be dittle and highland that are going to need renovation. >> So I guess a uh potential strategy is saying you know because we have the design for dittle is making this specific to do little >> under $500,000. Um >> I mean that's the way most projects work, isn't it? >> They wouldn't normally go through districtwide. They go through what we were looking before. So that like that just doesn't make sense to me to do it like that. >> Yep. Um, >> I don't know what bond council says. >> Well, whatever they say. >> The problem, the problem, the reason why we do that is to allow us flexibility. >> Yeah.
We've been looking at the staffing needs. We do we do have a structure that's been created. Um so if we decide to leave the co-op, we kind of know the structure. We kind of know what programs we need, where we would potentially house those programs. So we feel like we have a good understanding of what that looks like. The financial sustainability piece is the one that is ongoing and still looking at. And um at some point I'm going to have Mark [clears throat] interject and talk about the numbers that you're going to these are the only numbers you're going to see tonight. Um next month you'll see a deeper dive once we have the full anal analysis back from Nathan. Um and then the risk and compliance. So right now, knowing if we take all special education on ourselves, every situation that's an issue becomes our issue.
I've heard that as well. Um So, once again we see the Ashland girls wearing their purple ribbons in honor of their friend and former teammate Morgan Banowitz in her battle with lymphoma. I think Morgan is coming up on her last chemotherapy and is handling it all like a champion. The girls wear purple in there the ribbons in their hair, which is the the color for that particular type of cancer, as well as Morgan's favorite color. And they also have stickers on their sticks with her initials on it. So, shout out to Morgan and her whole family and just know we're all thinking of you. Most definitely, great kid. Yeah, absolutely. Take a look ahead, Kevin. We got Next week is vacation week, but we do have a game at Shrewsbury. Usually play them pretty tough every year. This is I believe a home game for us versus going to Shrewsbury, which is nice.
Mark mentioned I think you mentioned refrigeration. >> Yes. >> Going on the loading dock. So just so people can envision this a little bit um better maybe is the loading dock. The plan is the loading dock is I literally touched the rebar that's exposed now where there was cement and it just crumbled. Um so I'm not an a structural engineer but that's bad and I was told even the unexposed rebar is uh also degrading inside the concrete. So I do really believe that it needs to be um it needs to be replaced if not right now but in the near future say a year from now. Um, one of the things that's proposed for the loading dock is to actually expand it to take it out a little bit further with the idea being that that new space um would it first of all it would cover up the driveway that exists there now and then also it would allow for outside outdoor refrigeration.
>> Because maybe we're just replacing playground pieces where we could use, you know, a capital allocation. Otherwise, if you dedicated to a school, we're pigeonholding to that school. So, for instance, do little is already over budget. So I'm no, you know, but if it was if it was, you know, say if it was a half and half and I could replace, you know, 40% at Dittle and 60% at Highland, I would be allowed to do that the way this is set up as a district-wide. >> Yeah, >> that's the reason why we we allocated it districtwide. >> If we did just do a little What would be the dollar value you would put in there to cover? >> That's just the upper playground was 300,000. >> That's what I was wondering. the fire playground and the rear is even larger. So, yeah, you're going to you're going to spend a little money.
So working with attorneys, working on compliance, working on make sure we're dotting the eyes, crossing the tees, right now, if there's a if there's a problem in a co-op classroom, regardless of the district that that's located in, we share one 12th the cost. So we could have an issue in one of our classrooms and a parent for whatever reasons just isn't happy and it leads to something that's going to require legal assistance down the road. Even though we host the program, we as a co-op share the expense 112. So that's comforting. U so that's just something that's a trade-off, right? Independence is great, but it does come with a tradeoff. Um next slide, Angie. Do they have an attorney that you use them to? >> They use Barn Barnes and Thornberg. So, and and Lori's probably been primarily the one that gets involved with working and interacting with their attorney.
And then the week after, we get some time off. It looks like No, here we go. We got Westwood, Grafton, and Norton. So, Westwood, Grafton back-to-back is going to be tough. A tough schedule, for sure. >> Westwood is always tough. Grafton, last year I think Grafton beat Ashland in Grafton. Year before, Ashland was able to win here. Uh I think that from what I understand, Grafton's been having a good year. They beat I think East Longmeadow Wow. >> uh recently. East Longmeadow usually has a very strong team. So, it it it will be a tough stretch and That's for sure. I mean, that's right after that you're going to be jumping into West Springfield, which is going to be a haul to get there and and also a good game. And you have to follow up with May with Medway and uh Medway, Hopkinton, Norwood again.
One of the things that came to mind for me as a local Yokal um I graduated in 1990 and the student population what was it 2005 it's probably around then when it hit peak maybe 2010 for the high school >> 2005 5500 so >> yeah and specifically for the high school it's anyway it's lower now than it was say 15 or 20 years ago. >> Yeah. >> So I wondered why do we need more refrigeration now than we did back then? It didn't make any sense to me. So why would we why would we be adding refrigeration? Well, number one, there's more food offerings, more requirements for food offerings as one example, more healthy offerings. And another thing that I just saw in the newspaper is it looks likely that school breakfasts will be required. So, I don't recall when I graduated, when I went through school that anybody got breakfast at school, but that is just a whole another meal that would be at least a lot of it would be getting refrigerated.
>> Okay. >> But I guess then I'm wondering if the is that right now you're looking at 250 for Dittle and 250 for Highland. >> No, it would be we would need we would need 250 plus another 100,000 to cover Dittle. >> That playground is $300,000. >> Yes. >> And a lot of that, what was it? 90 is the site work. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> So, the the playground itself is 210. >> What is the base? >> Uh Yeah. Engineered wood fiber. >> So it's it's not like the >> So that so if you ever take a ride over there right now it's a roughly a foot above elevation >> which is the parking lot. >> It's got to be excavated to a foot below. >> So two feet of excavation basically. >> Roughly. Yeah. Roughly. And it's mulch >> but it's also degraded mulch.
I think is it Mark Scutter? >> Mark Scutter and Jason Clag. And they pretty much handle all special ed. They're kind of the experts in the field. >> Yeah. So again, big picture decision, local control versus shared responsibility, flexib flexibility versus efficiency. There's no perfect solution. There's simply trade-offs, right? So if we get something, we're probably losing something on the other side of it. So I I just think that's really important to know. You have probably been reached out to by different staff members or parents because this is a this is a decision that will impact students and it'll impact students um who are currently our students but they may be coming from Garrett and East Side um and they're worried about maybe the unified program and what that what it will do to the unified program. Unified program is not going anywhere regardless of the decision we make.
Big TVL push there at the end of the season, so. Yeah, those the non-league games tend to be in the middle, like Grafton, like Shrewsbury, like West Springfield. And then the the final third of the season is just in the the league games, so. What are we looking like, Kevin, to we up here for the for the uh points on the board? How many goals who's got what here today? So we've got eight goals on the board for Ashlyn, five by Lily Vitti, two by Maggie McGuinness, one by Ashley Forrester, Payton Tripp with a couple of assists, Maggie McGuinness with a couple of assists, Laney Early with an assist, and then our mystery assist either Celia Callahan or maybe it was Ali Marseglia. Somebody with a a very nice pass in that situation. For Dedham, according to my count, all five goals have been scored by number six Avery Landry, who is a junior >> The Avery Avery Landry show here at the Plateau today.