3/30/26 Weston Board of Education Special Meeting

001I'm listening. Um, we are even though this is a special meeting, we are going to hold public comment. So, let me read our typical uh board intro to public comment. The board welcomes the opportunity to hear from members of the public. Public comment is an important chance for the board to receive input and feedback from our school community. We listen attentively to all comments. While we value and pay close attention to comments, it is not it is our practice not to respond substantively or even at all during public comment. There are reasons for this. Engaging in a discussion on non-agenda items could violate the board's obligation to comply with the Freedom of Information Act. Second, the board or the administration may not be prepared to discuss certain matters raised. Third, the board develops its meeting

002agenda carefully to ensure that the board addresses matters that are pressing or relevant at the time of the meeting. We encourage members of the public with specific questions, concerns, or complaints to reach out directly to Superintendent Forty. You may also email the board at our email address [email protected]. Um, also, I will entertain a motion tonight that we will extend the 20-minute usual uh limit on public comment to no more than 45 minutes for tonight for this special meeting. Is there a motion? So moved. Is there a second? I second. All in favor? I. Any opposed? All right, with that, let's begin public comment. Um, Jody Seketa will um monitor that and also uh keep track of time limits. So, thank you, Jody. All right, just to go over um how public comment works. If there's

003somebody that would like to speak to public comment this evening, there is a little button on the bottom of your screen that says raise hand. Kindly raise your hand so that I can identify you. I will call you one by one by name. When I call your name, I will promote you from an attendee to a panelist. There's going to be a button that shows up at the bottom of your screen. Kindly click on that so that you can be brought over onto the panelist side and be able to speak. Once you come over to a panelist, please turn your camera on, state your first name and your last name and your street address, and then I will give you 5 minutes to speak. The first person that I will call would be Susan. Susan,

004I'm going to promote you to a panelist. Just give me a moment. Okay, Susan, you're now in the room as a panelist. Please turn your camera on, state your first and last name and your street address for us, and then you'll have 5 minutes. Can you hear me? I can hear you, but I can't see you. Yeah, I can't I can't figure it out. I'm sorry. Um, I'm Susan Barron. I live on Old Hyde Road. Okay. I heard last week slam comparing Weston to Greenwich. That's not even apples to oranges. It's more like apples to beef. Greenwich is well over 67 square miles with a population of over 60,000 people. And Weston is 20 square miles with a population of 10,000 people. The numbers are not necessarily exact. Greenwich has a huge commercial real estate

005footprint, which which Weston has virtually none. They have 12 to 15 billionaires living there as well as many wealthy multimillionaires. They have several private schools that keep expanding because the public schools aren't doing their jobs. How can you accept that comp- comparison? It makes us look ridiculous. The building of WIS and paying off the bond put all our necessary repairs of our other school buildings on the back burner because we couldn't afford to do the necessary repairs. Are we going to watch history repeat itself? You want to build a new middle school and or renovate as new. I feel we should just renovate. We want to make the middle school smaller. Okay, let's say 15 years from now, while you're still paying off the bond you've taken for this new school, and the other schools

006are in need of millions of dollars of repairs, and we end up having an influx of students. What do you do then? Add on to the middle school? I feel strongly in these times where all prices, gas prices, electricity, food prices, building supplies are soaring, and it would be irresponsible of this board to put a financial burden on the taxpayers in this town. Better to have had better better to have better educators and more enrichment classes and get us back up to number one in education in this state. You know that the seniors in town support these schools. Raise the taxes and watch us leave. Before COVID, our ho- homes weren't selling in Weston. Now, our homes are selling, but our prices are less than other neighboring because One last thing, we voted for you

007and you're not listening. If the people don't show up or participate, they have to live with the consequences, but the people who keep showing up need to be heard and taken seriously. Thank you. Thank you very much, Susan. Just give me one moment so that I can move you back to an attendee and then bring the next person up. Okay, the next individual, Laura Davis Gross. Laura, I'm going to promote you to a panelist. Hey, you should see something on your screen for you to click. Hi, Laura. I can see you're here. You can Thank you for turning your camera on. I'm Laura Gross, 75 Fenton Hill Road. Good evening. Thank you to the board and the superintendent for your time. My family has lived in Weston for 5 years. We moved here for the

008schools. My husband and I are both proud public school kids, and we want the same for our children. And I also know there are families who have been here long before us who've seen this movie before. Tonight, I'm speaking to three things, please: transparency, collaboration, and planning. As we look to the needs of the district 5 to 20 years from now, we need optionality. The build new and renovate as new recommendations are important, and I'm for moving them forward as I know grant submissions are time-sensitive. But whether we submit in June 26 or 27, we don't yet know where those applications will land. The amount the state approves for reimbursement depends on when we file, what we qualify for, and how much the state has available. The more options we discuss now as a town,

009the more flexibility we have to move forward with when all the puzzle pieces are brought together. Let me be concrete about what I mean when I say optionality. Last week, it was discussed at the BOE meeting that there were 2019 repair estimates for the middle school totaling $38 million that have not been updated. I started a petition asking that these estimates be updated with 2026 numbers. In less than a week, 140 of our neighbors have signed it. We cannot make a sound financial decision on old data, nor should we move forward with the 100 million plus plans as our only estimates. Our superintendent also put forward a three-school model option that deserves serious consideration. And there are other confider- configurations worth exploring. Uh I believe they were on the table in 2024. A new smaller

010build that houses pre-K to 1. Can the town use the building for town offices, senior center, and admin offices? These are the kinds of options we should be stress testing before we commit. There are many cross-board conversations to explore. Why didn't these happen in the last 18 months? As a community, we also don't yet have a clear picture of what the financial obligations are across the other three school buildings over the next 5 to 20 years. What will be needed for the district annex? I hear it's flooding. And we don't yet know what the town's appetite is for supporting a $100 million build. The community deserves to understand the full picture before major decisions are made, particularly when Weston kids spend at most 20% of their school career inside the middle school building. This middle

011school project is one moving piece with the scope of our school and town budget. Let's say the additional cost being circulated for the other three school buildings is 33 million in the next 5 to 10 years, and we're on the hook for a $100 million plus loan. We're going to be forced to have a fundamentally different conversation about things like programming. The math doesn't math. At the same time, I've heard talk of a town hall expansion that we haven't heard estimates for. All of these factors compound, and they require coordination across boards, not decisions made in piecemeal or obligation. We also don't yet have the superintendent's long-term plan for the district. And in the absence of the of that plan, the 2026 budget still increased 6% covering health insurance, printed materials, laptops, and walkie-talkies. While

012programming continues to be reduced and enrollment continues to to decline. We recruited and hired a superstar superintendent, but if we lock ourselves into one level of financial obligation without optionality, we handcuff her. How can she build a great district if she is effectively house poor? We've heard this $120 million building described as a Chevy. My question to the board is, are we here for Chevy buildings or Bugatti teaching and learning? We also cannot ignore the cautionary data in front of us. Families who were here before us paid for Wes and watch the rest of the district's buildings and town infrastructure decline as a result, including the middle school, including the Hurlbutt. This is not a warning to ignore. We also unfortunately can look at towns like Montclair, which is facing a deficit from district overspending

013and poor planning. I'm not here to criticize, nor am I anti anything. I am pro Weston and pro high-quality teaching and learning. What I am asking is this: Move grant planning forward, but before committing to a financial path, let's ensure we've exhausted our options to find the best solution for the town and the district, which includes a long-range plan from our superintendent and clear cross-board alignment on what this town's total obligations look like in the foreseeable future. Let's build a plan that has optionality. Let's put forward a plan that takes budget limits into account. Let's build a plan the town can support. And let's prioritize working together, tri-board and superintendent, to make the future of Weston schools its brightest. I hope to see many of us at tomorrow night's Board of Finance meeting, and I'm

014grateful for your time. Thank you. Thank you, Laura. And Joe Jody, you're muted. Yep, I'm just going to move Laura back to an attendee. Okay. Amy Sanborn, you are next up. I'm going to promote you to a panelist. Kindly click the button at the bottom of your screen. Okay, Amy, you've joined us. Okay, did that work? Yes, it did. Just state your name and your address for me, please. Uh Amy [clears throat] Sanborn, Old Hyde Road. Um good evening and thank you all for your time. Most of you don't know me. My parents moved to Weston in 1960. I attended the Weston public schools K-12 in the '60s as when and was in the third class to graduate from high school in '73. During the last school construction project, I was president of the Weston

015Middle School PTO and lived the process on a daily basis. I was a PTO rep on the Ed Specs Committee. I received an amazing education here, well prepared to attend Williams College and then Stanford Business School. I moved back to Weston in 1993 to raise my family. My children attended K-12 with the last graduating in 2010, and my children, too, received a great education here, including involvement with the sped program and taking honors and AP courses. When the last school construction project was approved in 2000, the enrollment was 2,263. It is currently 2,024, a decrease of 10%. For grades 6 to 8, it was 505 and is now 438, a decrease of 13% percent. Additionally, enrollment in Weston schools has declined declined by about 575 students since peak enrollment in 2006-7, a 22% decline. I

016believe we have a chicken and the egg situation here. What we would like to build and what can we afford? While these have been discussed as two independent silos, I do not believe they are. Here's an analogy. If I were going to look at doing a reno reconstruction of my home, I would look at my needs and wants and what I could afford simultaneously. Cash costs, borrowing costs, operating costs after completion. I would also consider my other expenses. As with the schools, every resident town is experiencing the same in increasing cost stressors as the district, utilities, health care, plus our regular property tax tax increases. The burden on taxpayers goes well beyond just construction and operating costs. Additionally, I would think about other costs possibly looming like a college tuition payment for some. These costs

017are similar to other capital expenses to be required by the town. I would like would likely need to make compromises as would other residents. I was pleased to hear the Board of Finance Debt Capacity Committee will be updating its model. It was said they hope to present their work to the full Board of Finance on May 9th. That will be followed by a public forum to receive feedback from residents. No timing was presented. This is what I need to make an informed decision on supporting a school construction project, and I think you would, too. Please show us. We made a mistake last time with enrollment projections. They were too high. Let's not do it again. How sensitive to enrollment assumptions is the scope of the building project and costs? A max capacity of 720 students

018seems too high with the information related to declining enrollment statewide and beyond. In case you're unaware, in 1998, there were 82 students in 12th grade. The consultants have said that each of the four buildings has excess capacity. We are told the town has a need for additional space. Why can't some of this excess capacity be repurposed to satisfy town needs and maintain a quality educational environment? Where are the projected operating costs related to a new building and a renovate as new? Where is a model analysis that delineates operating three buildings? Again, the experts have said each building has extra space. What are the true all-in costs, including operating costs, related to a three-transition educationally the better option I have heard, three-building model? I don't believe there's any way a grant application could practically be filed

019by June 30th this year with the Board of Finance schedule because I don't sense that their work will rubber-stamp a build as new model as is currently contemplated. Perhaps there will be a path to support a referendum in November. Yes, making a decision with respect to the buildings is the responsibility of the Board of Ed, but I don't believe this can be done in a financial vacuum. Please take your time as I hope you address my questions to inform both your decision-making and the residents. I have always been a huge supporter of district budgets. I have stayed in Weston for the almost 16 years since my last child graduated. I would like to be able to stay here going forward. The recollection of my education in Weston and its value is not the buildings and

020temporary spaces in which I was educated. My third grade classroom was the town hall meeting room. It was the phenomenal teachers in the classrooms that made the difference. Natural light may matter, but the teachers are the most important assets supporting the education of Weston children. Please take your time before you decide to move this forward and show us the information so we can all make an informed decision as to what's best from both an educational and fiscal perspective. Let's not make the same mistakes as the last go-around. And I will also add, since I've got 20 seconds, that my son was in the middle school as a fourth and fifth grader, in a fourth and fifth grade wing off near the library, and my daughter was in the middle school as a fifth grader, and

021I can say there were absolutely no educational, social-emotional, or bus-related issues um that they experienced in the time that they were there. And I thank you all very much for your time and effort that you're putting forward on behalf of our community. Thank you, Amy. Just give me 1 moment and I will move you back. Lisa, I'm going to promote you to a panelist. I don't want to mispronounce your name, so I'm just going to move you forward. You're going to see the button at the bottom of your screen. Kindly click on it, please. Okay. Hey, can you guys see me okay? Yes, we can. We can see you and hear you. You're ready to go. Great. And my last name is Yancy, no worries. Okay. Just didn't want to mispronounce it. No worries. No

022worries. Um my name is Lisa Yancy. I'm at 9 Partridge Lane. Um I wanted to first thank the board for doing a Zoom option for public comment tonight. Um sorry, my video my camera's a little off, but we'll make it work. Um I really wanted to be at the meeting last week, but like many families in town, I unfortunately could not make it because of child care restraints. Uh so having the Zoom option is really helpful to allow as many voices as possible. And many families who aren't here tonight are not here because they don't care. They're here because they're working families with kids, and I think that just needs to be said. Um I have two children in the Weston school system, a fourth grader and a first grader. So what is done in

023this middle school directly affects me and my family. I've watched and followed the Board of Ed's work this year, and I've been really touched by the thought and care that has gone into your analysis, questions, and comments. Um tonight I want to bring up two issues. First, I want to address the debate um as to changing the grade configuration for the from the PK to two, three to five, six to eight, and nine to 12 model. I strongly believe that we should keep the grade configuration as it currently stands. Personally, with my fourth grader, I have seen how the PK to two, three five three to five model, and four school model has enabled him to grow and succeed in school in ways that would go way beyond my five minutes here. Um and this

024just isn't anecdotal. Uh going from a four to three school model has been investigated by this board in nine options, and all were considered non-viable for a variety of reasons. I think our current grade breakdown and our current four school model is a key ingredient to the success that has enabled our school district to win accolades across the state and nationally, and it really needs to be protected. The second issue I want to address is the topic of renovation rather than renovate as new or build as new. There have been some concerns in town that not enough investigation has been done on just renovating the middle school. I respectfully disagree with this assertion. In 2017, a Silverpetrycelli examined doing renovations to public school buildings, including the middle school. These basic renovations of the middle school

025did not address the fundamental structural problems that only a renovate as new or new construction design plan could. The study found that it would cost $50 million, half of which about half of which was going to the middle school, and that was 8 years ago, so the cost would definitely be higher now, and would not address the significant safety and structural concerns of the building. It would in effect be a multi-million dollar band-aid, um which would not solve the problems of the middle school or provide lasting change. In my mind, that is wasting taxpayer money. To spend good money after bad on repairs that don't solve the actual problem or have lasting results. The board is now, I believe, really making headway into a middle school plan that enables our kids to learn in a

026safe and effective environment for years to come. And our community has frankly waited too long for this change. I urge the board to move forward with bringing the construction plan for a new middle school to the Board of Finance and Board of Selectmen, and hopefully together these boards can give our kids and town a middle school building that they really deserve. Um thank you very much for your time, and just for the last few minutes, sorry, my video's all screwed up, but for the last 30 seconds, I just want to say um I've really My kids have been such blessed by this school, and the passion that I'm saying in my statement is just because I think it's really important for us to give them a building that enables them to learn and be in

027a school safely as they've been at Hurlbutt and Wyss and in the high school. Thank you so much. Thank you, Lisa. Thank you. Thank you. [clears throat] And the next individual, Keith Johnson, I'm going to promote you to a panelist. Okay, you're joining as a panelist now. Kindly turn on your camera, state your first and last name, and your street address for me, and then you'll have 5 minutes to speak. I don't know if you can hear me, but you're still on mute. Can you hear me now? I can hear you now, and You could be able to see me now, right? And now we can see you. You'd think with all these Zoom meetings I've been on, but I I'd have it figured out. Uh I'm Keith Johnson. I live at 44 Singing Oaks.

028I've been here about 20 years, and um my prior life was uh 40 years executive CEO of one of the largest advisory firms to commercial and residential real estate here in the US and uh Europe. What I coming into at you is um really as a taxpayer. Um I know you guys have done a great amount of work. You've got a lot of consultants. And really using it gets to this point, I sit on a few other boards, college boards, where we have building issues. And the one question that has to be asked, are we solving a facilities condition issue or a capacity issue? And the reason I bring that up because the the report that you attached to this meeting on page six, it says the building is structurally sound and stable for renovation,

029and that enrollment is remaining stable over the next, you know, 10 years. So, how does this decision align with our town's broader obligations, which 30 more million for you guys in the schools, we've got water programs, an annex that is to me unsafe and unsound, along with all the rising costs of paving, etc., that's got to be considered into this. I noticed that the the last meeting you had a big issue with renovating the core systems, which is what most schools do, including the colleges I work on. We update the roofs, the HVAC, the plumbing, the electrical, windows, etc., and we get the frame complete. The this the biggest issue I heard was student disruption, and that can be handled through a very phased, thoughtful renovation core system using modules. And the reason I bring

030up modules is that may be the solution for the annex. The modules you use in your renovation could easily then be used for the the modules for the annex to replace those. And you can get modules now. We use them in the colleges. They can last up to 30 years. So, please take that into consideration. I know you guys are doing all the hard work. You're much closer to this than me, but those are the questions that came up. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Give me a moment and I'll go I'll move you back. Is there anybody else that would like to speak for public comment? If so, kindly click the raise hand button at the bottom of your screen. All right. It doesn't look like there's anybody else that is interested

031in speaking this evening. Oh, wait, hold on one moment. I have one No. One person. Romy, just give me one moment. I will promote you. Okay. All right, Romy, you're a panelist now. If you could turn your screen on, state your name, your first name and last name, and your street address, please. Hi, I'm Romy Zimmer. I live on Salem Road. Appreciate everybody's time today and everybody's hard work in putting all these presentations and info together. Just wanted to make a couple of quick points adding to what everybody else was talking about. I had a question, why is Tecton using 1160 about per square foot when they're saying they're using the average for the area for this type of magnitude of a building when the average is 500 max 550. It's double. Also, even using

032their own example of Trumbull Hillcrest, what they're suggesting we should do should be $20 million less. Reason I'm bringing this up is I'm not sure who's familiar, who's not. I'm originally from Westport, so I know Coleytown back in 2018, I believe it was, had a problem with their new middle school they built. It was a mold issue, so they had to go back to the drawing board and build a second new middle school. And even with two middle schools around the same size, it's even a little bigger, I believe, they were able not to raise their taxes. So, maybe we could look at them as a case study and go back to the drawing board. I think the contractors that are giving these quotes need to sharpen their pencils because these numbers don't make sense.

033Just like the other lady said, the math isn't mathing. I'm a finance person. Something's not right here. Please ask them to go back to the drawing board and sharpen their pencils. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Just give me a moment and I'll go I'll move you move you back. Is there anybody else that would like to speak this evening? Okay, I do not see any more hands raised. Okay, then we will close public comment and move on to um the next item, school facilities campus revitalization. First starts off with a discussion and follow-up from prior meetings. I know there were a couple of questions that came in a little bit later uh than Colliers had time to prepare for last week, um but Phil has worked with Colliers and worked on at

034least a couple of those questions. So, Phil, I'm going to uh turn it over to you. Thank you. Good evening, everyone. Uh I think one of the main questions that's been coming up, and I think what we heard tonight is what are those additional costs that would be considered if we were only to do a strictly repairs and maybe some slight modifications to the middle school. Um we've been referencing a lot of reports. Um the basis or the foundation for all of these reports goes back to the 2017 Silverpetrycelli report. So, you know, in in 2016, uh the board commissioned a phase one feasibility study that was completed in November of 2017. In fall of 2018, a phase two advisory committee was established to establish the the merits [clears throat] of a three-school campus, primarily

035to determine if a three if there was a more cost effective option to the phase one. The phase two report identified renovation and and additions referred to as design option one to the middle school. The totals of all these renovations and additions total approximately 37.5 million dollars. I'm just going to share my screen um if I have that option just to present what those items are. Can everyone see my screen, okay? Good. So you can see from the report that they focus on the infrastructure um which primarily focus on the HVAC, the electrical making some renovations to the bathrooms. There was some reconfigurations of the hallways. Um the they also considered adding a science wing to the building. There was renovation of the music and the art rooms. And there was also renovations uh to

036the gym and locker rooms. Also included was addressing the the code compliant issue that we had at the entrance of the front of the middle school. And they also included some contingency that was not included prior prior before of approximately 7 million dollars. From my understanding these this estimate includes the phase one cost for renovation or for repairs which was approximately 17 million dollars. So as I mentioned before, the total price for these was 37 million dollars, 37.5. If we assume a 4.5 escalation factor, the current cost for this project will be if completed today will be in the tune of approximately 51 million dollars. Right here. So for 2026 total cost, today's cost assuming a 5% So for seven years seven seven years on, 51 million dollars. Hold on one quick second. For every

037year that the project is delayed, the additional cost for the project will total to approximately 2.5 million dollars. So while it is while it is more economical or cheaper to do a um a repair model, a few things to consider. Based on SLAM's phase one study all of our systems have reached the end of their useful lives. I'm going to stop sharing for just a quick moment. So based on the SLAM phase one study, all of our systems have reached the end of their useful lives and require a full replacement. Plumbing and other concerns identified in the 2005 SLAM report were not not identified in the 2017 SLAM report and and are not accounted for in the estimates. Unit ventilators currently cannot be replaced on a one-to-one basis as the the decibel levels in the

038in the unit ventilators ventilators will be above current standards for decibel levels. This study also are these estimates also if we only should only do repairs indoor windowless spaces will not be addressed. We also we have to give consideration to the existing ductwork that may not be suitable for air conditioning. As we have as SLAM mentioned in previous reports, the ceiling we have some issues with the ceiling height. Um one of the concerns that SLAM pointed out was that the existing building envelope there is not currently energy efficient. Adding insulation would decrease room sizes and therefore a careful evaluation of dew points would need to be performed to avoid mold mold issues. One of the key takeaways from this is that capital improvements in general do not qualify for state reimbursement. For every year that

039I mentioned before, every year that the project is delayed, the cost will go up. The 2007 uh reports right now are are completely updated and it would need to be complete. Um one of the recommendation that I received from Colliers is that if we should consider um going with the construction improvement plan, we would need to completely do a new um a new project to determine what the cost would be. I'm going to pause and um if I need to reshare my screen, I will. Any questions? Sorry Phil. I have I just have a question. Thank you so much for presenting this information. Um You just said Collier I think maybe said a word that I didn't catch. Colliers recommended that if we consider going with the construction improvement plan which is what you just

040explained, we need to do a new what, sorry? We would need to do a a new feasibility study. Okay, thank you. Hey Phil, can you share your screen again if you could? Sure. Which one, Michael? Doesn't matter? Uh the one you just put up, the Excel. Okay. I I I just want to make sure I understand what what you're saying here. First one or second? No, second. The um the multi-year. Yep. Correct. Okay. All right, so in this and just just for clarification, in this are you saying basically this is the cost per year because it's it's going up you know, whatever it is, 4 and 1/2% if we assume that per year. This would be the cost each year basically we delay. Is that is that fair? How do how does how should I

041read that? Is that right? >> Yeah, I I think if So what I I try my verb is just to I highlight what the cost would be for each year that we would would delay. It's not saying that we'll have to pay this amount every single year, but the longer that we wait, the more expensive the project will be. Yep. So again, from 20 this from 2026 to 2032. And I did that range because of all the unknowns. I get it and you didn't and and you held everything else constant meaning um the repair that we're looking at or the renovation that we're looking at. You you weren't sort of layering in anything else that we may need if the longer we wait for example, right? There may be other issues that come up. Oh,

042of course, yes. Those are not factored in. So the base the base of this is the 2017 um study we've been using that study now for pretty much all of our reports and for all of our analysis and at this time it's nine years old. It's it's completely dead at this point. The only thing that we can say for certain is that everything that we have in the middle school in terms of mechanicals and the like that they're that they're at the end of their life. Okay, thanks. So Phil, you mentioned that this does not it doesn't address things like the windowless classrooms that we have right now. And it does we do have a new HVAC system with this. But is this any I mean does this take into consideration you know, how old

043is the roof on the building and you know, where are we as far as the life expectancy of the roof is concerned on the building? Um things like that. Any thoughts on that? Um yeah, I think we need the roof was completed I want to say 2009 or so. Um now the cost that they have here for HVAC assumed that would there would be a one-for-one or a similar replacement for unit ventilators. We cannot use similar unit ventilators in the classroom because of the decibel levels. So we would definitely definitely have to take other thing into consideration and more than likely based on my conversation that we've been having with Mike, we would have to have roof rooftop units. And is there a I know that we had talked about the possibility of you know,

044solar for a variety of different reimbursement purposes and it was determined that our roof would not be able to hold the weight of solar panels. Are we getting into any sort of danger as far as um uh air conditioning on the roof with the same sort of thing? Yeah, I think we're we're we're in decent condition. We currently the the chiller for one section of the middle school is currently on the roof. Um so we just need to probably maybe add some steel reinforcement um for support. Okay. But still again um I did on one of the tours that I've done in the middle school and also some pictures that I think we've looked at, there's not a lot of room for ventilation for them to run in ventilation. Correct? That is one of the

045concerns that we have. Because you would need to run the the ductwork would have to be completely new um and of course adding all of that would increase the cost here as well. Right. Hm. >> [clears throat] >> Okay, thank you. Sorry, I so I I have a few questions but just going off of what Sharon said cuz I Sharon is very involved with ductwork and insulation and everything like that, but could you just really spell it out for me what that means? I'll do my best. So if you if if you if you should walk through the middle school um similar to what we have in Hurlbut especially in the north house, we have what's considered to be unit ventilators. The unit ventilators for the most parts provide the heat and for the building.

046They provide limited fresh air fresh fresh air for the space. Based on current standards, we would have to pretty much remove all of those unit ventilators and they would need to be duct work pretty much vents to allow the So pretty much that's exactly what what that means. No, but in terms of the insulation, like what is the I Can you just explain more >> The space the space between the the ceiling tile and the roof is too low. So we have some we have some restriction there. So does that mean the ceilings will become lower? That would be correct. Or is it just that duct work will hang >> the duct work the duct work will be exposed and it'll be lower. And what about the insulation? We would need to cover the insulation

047as well. Currently, we have exposed in one wing off the middle school, we have exposed duct work. So that would also need to be insulated. And so then the impact of the insulation? Every in terms of a perceived like a potential negative consideration of doing this. It's not necessarily a negative consideration, but it's just going to increase the cost. Okay. Thank you. Okay, sorry. And then I I still have questions. Okay. Um can you just comment on how long you know, because there's there's a lot of discussion on a new like a new building will give us decades of life. Can you comment on how long you think this renovation that was discussed here, how long that will serve the district? If we only thinking of So if you think about what this is talking

048about, right? This is not talking about improvement on the facility itself. I mean there are some >> [clears throat] >> some some things here about the science wing. Maybe I don't know into science and also for the locker rooms. So new mechanicals and I think we we spoke about this even for the north house at Hallbrook. You're looking for about an average about 20 years on HVAC equipment. Um the other mechanicals you may be able to extend the life of those equipment, but again, where we are currently in terms of how things are manufactured and I think we've said this before, they're not things or items are not manufactured to last as long as they did back in the '50s and '60s. And we're fortunate enough that most of our that two schools our the

049middle school that was built back then and we are pretty much limping along with with the equipment. And how will the buildings be structurally with this? Based on the SLAM's report, I think they're saying that structurally the phase one analysis did did point out that structurally the buildings are sound. So do you meaning they would last longer than 20 years? I I wouldn't necessarily want to put an age to it. I think the the word the wording that they use is that they would qualify for a renov renovate as new status. And I think you would need to have at least additional 30 years. Okay. And then so if we were to build a new school when would and that has all new systems in it the all of the systems that are currently failing

050and need replacement, how long would those last in a new school? I think they would be the same. I mean it's we're we're it's it's equipment. So the life doesn't change based on whether or not it's in a new or a renovated renovated building. Okay, thank you. And then my other question is you said that and I don't know if you know the answer to this, it might be a Colliers question. I apologize. Um so this as you just clarified for everyone, this would not qualify for state reimbursement. So do you know if what would be what would the steps be required to take to do this? Would a referendum be required? Does Board of Selectmen need to approve it? Or do you do you have a sense of how this would function in terms

051of timing and bureaucracy and paperwork? For which for for the grant or for just the construction for the Just for the repair that you the repair the little R is double X to say the repair plus a little bit of renovation. So for the little R the little R will be a part of our annual budget capital capital improvement budget. So that would go We will do the same process. We will have deliberation with the Board of Education, Board of Selectmen, Board of Finance and ultimately a referendum vote by the taxpayers. So there will be a referendum there would be a referendum. Correct, because either way it'll be a it'll be a part of our overall request. Okay. Thank you. Phil, I have a a question. So I reviewed the I missed three different documents,

052right? So there's the Silverpetrocelli from 2019 and that had I think that was the basis of Well actually that if you wouldn't mind pulling that up on your screen the document you shared with us or the ask the cost the compounding escalating costs. Right. Yeah. So is the first column 2019 is that the 37 million in change? Yes. Okay. All right. So have we had any sort of updated study because I saw I I've seen this document from 2019 and then I saw the believe it was SLAM did Oh sorry, Colliers did a 10-year capital improvement plan which some things are in the capital improvement plan that are in the Silverpetrocelli from 2019. But have we done any sort of update that more mirrored the 2019 Silverpetrocelli? And then my other question since it's related

053is when they did the capital improvement plan for the middle school which was relatively low it was 16.5 million dollars. How do you define that? In other words, if you looked at the you looked at the 38 million or 37 five from the Silverpetrocelli and then you look at the 16 million in change from Colliers, what was the scope of work that was defined for the two projects? Lot of questions there, David. >> [laughter] >> I I go for the multi-part. All right, where do you where do you want me to start? So let me try to start with the easy part. So there there has been no new study. The basis for all studies across all boards for the FOC, for the EOC, for SLAM, the basis for all studies has been the 2017

054study. Right? So in in terms So that's that's answer number one. Where do you want me to go from there? Yeah, I think and not to overcomplicate it. So we I think you answered the first question, right? A new study has a new study to the scope of work that this was done. Another one has not been commissioned. That's correct. Okay. And then the Colliers capital improvement plan, when they looked at that and they came up with 16 million of which there are several things in that 16 million that's in this 2019. Do you like how would you what was I guess Colliers commissioned with that they came up 16 million? It the their their commission was was somewhat similar to this commission. Based on the 2017 report, what is the current escalated cost for

055those projects? What we did myself and Mike is that we went through the report with Colliers and we sort of kind of identified anything that was done and we kind of stripped those out and we kind of more we we kind of streamline the various projects that we have. So that's why the 2017 cost for the project was approximately 17.2 million dollars. We did some fine tuning. We removed some items based on work that was work that was completed since because I think we did replace some lockers. So we took some items out and that's why you ended up with a lower number as the base in the Colliers escalated report. Okay. So that's actually my final question {slash} point. So we we don't have an updated version of this 2019 study and since the

0562019 study was done which seems to be a much bigger project than the capital improvement plan, some work has been done. So I don't think you have this number, but would you happen to know you've you've carried the 37 million 500 forward and you've projected that out. Do you have a rough idea of the value of the work that was done um that in that 37.5 million? The that was done The only thing that we have done to the middle school is changing of the lockers. A few years ago the Board of Finance did approve having a contingency for us to rebuild some motors our major motors at the middle school and that work was done. We have been in sort of kind of a holding pattern for several years. We have done our very

057best to maintain the building and to repair the repair the equipment that we currently have. Um you know, if you speak to Mike, he'll mention to you that a lot of the equipment that we have, they're not currently in anyone's shelf. And if something should break, we would need to have it either rebuilt or we would have to find a way to get it new which possesses own set of problems and delays. Thanks, Phil. Okay. Are there any other questions? We do have more items on the agenda. I realize this is new information. Um, I also realize it's a high-level estimate. Much like when we asked Colliers to say to help us understand if we added a fifth grade to the middle school project, what would the sense of scale be? What would the cons

058conceptual high-level kind of price? So, um, I want to thank Phil and uh Colliers for digging through um, looking at these um, you know, sort of the typical capital repairs plus some improvement on some of the spaces. Taking that and um, putting it in today's dollars and noting some of the things that are not there. But it's a a more um, it's a clear understanding of what sort of the I call it the small R approach is where we're not um, going as full bore as renovate as new. Um, but we're doing a little bit more than doing boiler repairs. So, that's why I look at it. Any other questions for Phil? Yes, Deb. Sorry, I don't know if this is also on your agenda, but something if it is, I apologize if I'm jumping

059ahead, but I just about I just wanted to quickly mention Hurlbutt. I know that I previously in the last meeting expressed it as a concern of mine. I know in public comment it was a concern. So, I don't know if I'm if this is still on your agenda, then I will pause, but if it's not, Phil, I just want to know if you could cuz you're you're the one with the most experience here about facilities and repairs and operations and all of that. I don't know if you can share your opinion on the difference in the state of the middle school versus Hurlbutt in terms of its needs going forward and whether or not we're going to be, you know, I ex- like I expressed last week cuz is the same thing going to happen

060to Hurlbutt where we're going to be talking about build new or renovate as new, you know, in a few years. And so, Deb, I again, I apologize. Like I don't want to jump ahead if that's already on here, but if it's not, I was just hoping Phil could quickly share his opinion on that because I think you probably have the most expertise here. Okay, well, Phil can certainly review what's in the capital plan and the and the capital needs that he knows about. But so, Phil, is that fair to ask you? It is. I think we can just speak and adjust at a high level in terms of of Hurlbutt. You know, I I think for anyone who has walked through both the middle school and and Hurlbutt, you you you it's a different feel.

061Um, the Hurlbutt has more natural light and it just feels in a more like a better place. What we need to do, right, and what we have been doing at Hurlbutt is just really addressing the capital needs. Um, back in 2019 or 20, um, we replaced the chiller there. So, unlike the middle school, the chiller has not been replaced. The chiller has been replaced at the middle school at the at Hurlbutt. Um, in the past two years or so, this board um, has been approving various capital items that needed to be refreshed at Hurlbutt. Um, we are doing the north house east wing project and we're also addressing um, two of the boilers at um, for the core and for the east house. If we continue to address the capital needs as been outlined in

062what we have seen, I think we'll be in a much better place and there would not be a need unless the board or the town should decide that they want to do significant capital improvements to Hurlbutt, but there wouldn't be a significant a need as we see right now when you compare Hurlbutt to the middle school. Okay, thank you. Okay. Um, let's move on. Thank Well, first of all, thank you very much, Phil, and um, um, we're sorry that Colliers could not be here tonight, but I I think you worked with Colliers to to get this information to us. So, thank you. You're welcome. Okay, see. I already got to look for my agenda. Okay, the next item on the agenda is discussion and possible approval of educational specifications for a new Weston Middle School,

063March 2026. So, um, we need to discuss this and if you don't mind, I'm just going to um, just take my prerogative here and go first with some comments. Um, I think our process up till now as our board uh working since December 2025 has been to build on the work before, which began in 2017. Um, there were analyses done and you've all heard this by Silverpetrucelli, whose name I will never pronounce correctly, Tecton, SLAM, and Colliers. Uh, the Weston Public School leadership and the boards of education Board of Education members um, were have been involved throughout. There were also committees formed with broad membership, Board of Ed members, uh Board of Selectmen members, Board of Finance members, community members, Town Building Commission members. And as you all know, a lot of approaches and options

064were examined. Capital needs of all school facilities were looked at over time. Discussions of the town needs were also looked at. The focus became on Weston Middle School because it was deemed the most in need of attention with extensive needs. And there were a lot of options examined including three or four school buildings. Um, and there's a list of options they included to get to three built Well, I'll talk about three buildings later. Uh, but one option included making a grade eight a grade eight through 12 high school, making a grade four through seven middle school, um, adding grade five to um, WIS or perhaps the middle school. I'm sorry, adding um, grade five to uh to the middle school. Um, emptying out HES or emptying out the middle school. So, there's a variety of

065options, variety of charts, variety of sort of pros and cons for each of those and it makes uh interesting reading because a lot of the questions we hear now are sort of echoes of prior questions. So, I think that prior work is helpful. It's not um, you know, it's it things have changed to some extent, but it's really helpful background. Um, in 2024, the Board of Ed um, approved the educational specifications for a 6-8 middle school. Um, they were developed through committee work under the advisement of Tecton. So, both educators and the architectural construction experts were involved in developing those. There were lots of uh small committees and focus groups and discussions. Um, so again, that was a lot of hard work that produced the document. The Board of Ed approved those Ed Specs um,

066and requested the Board of Selectmen set a referendum, form a building committee, and authorize application for the state for a state construction grant. The town leaders did not take that path. They quickly determined that the price was too high and community understanding was too low and that further work in collaboration was needed. So, the Board of Ed then commissioned a study to investigate the possibility of a concept that not that had not perhaps been done in depth called the renovate as new concept. And SLAM produced a what's called a phase one report and presented that to the Board of Ed in June of 2025 and they concluded that the facility was sound enough so that it could be renovated as new. Um, in December as we all know in 2025, we heard a review of

067all the studies. And in January 2026, we commissioned SLAM phase two report to do an in-depth look at not only the renovate as new, but compare it to the build new and compile the data along the way that would be needed for a potential state construction grant. The Board of Ed also in January heard a review of different grade configurations from an educational point of view. Our current structure obviously works. So, were some others like a pre-K to grade four, a 5-8, and a 9-12 or a pre-K to grade one, two to five, six to eight, nine to 12. Or a pre-K and K, a 1-4, 5-8, and 9-12. Less workable was a pre-K to two and then a grade three to six and then a standalone 7-8 school because it breaks up the middle

068schools and creates a building with just two grades. Magnet school was investigated and for lots of reasons, while an interesting concept, does not work logistically for us. So, the summary seemed to be from that, leave the high school alone, 9-12. A magnet school is improbable and very difficult. And a uh uh school with two grades is less desirable. The Board of Ed in January 26th also heard a high-level overview from the first selectwoman of possible town needs. Uh she did she described in very general terms um some of the needs coming down the down the road, but she is or at that point was awaiting for survey results, which I think will be reported on um uh relatively soon. Sorry about my dog. It's nothing I can do. Louise. Uh the Board of Ed in

069February heard the SLAM phase two report. Options for Excuse me, 1 second. Hey. Hey. Hey. Josh, whatever you're barking at, stop. So sorry. All right, my husband will take care of him. Um anyway, the Board of of Ed in February heard SLAM phase two report options for both renovated new and build new. They were close, they were similar in price, the time timeline was much longer for renovate as new and more disruptive to students. Though So the consensus among us was that of those two approaches, build new was the better option. The Board of Ed since then has reviewed and discussed the SLAM reports and Colliers has reviewed it. The opinion of probable costs was reduced from around 140 million to around 124 million. Um we also discussed questions about square footage, space utilization, teaming

070middle school model, energy efficiency, comparisons to other middle school projects being built in Connecticut, conceptual estimate of adding grade five to the project, grant application process and implications of June 26th or June 27th application and a November 26th or an April 27th referendum, the implications on the design and construction timelines. We also had Board questions about renovate and repair, the small R, which um again, as I said before, these seemed these are high-level, they're conceptuals, and they're a rough estimate. Um but these questions were also, as I said before, asked in 2018 and 2019. The Board of Ed has done its best to communicate. Uh we renewed or we um resurrected the communication subcommittee, updated the facility section on the website to a campus revitalization section and posted all the reports and the meetings since

0712017. The Board of Ed uh subcommittee has communications committee has also written newsletters describing our work, posted uh sent them out to parents, posted them on the website, and they've been included in the town newsletter. Uh Board of Ed members have attended some PTO meetings, and we have done our best to include public comment during the special meetings. And of course, all our meetings are reported. So that's a summary, and I am sure I've I have omitted things, but I'm trying to provide the main sense of the main steps along our way to tonight. So to me, build new seems the best approach for kids. Learning environment, I think, does have an impact. Working towards an engaging, flexible, adaptable um space space uh that supports current instructional strategies such as large and small groups, individual

072work, debates, breakout sessions, all sorts of projects and demonstrations, multimedia, technology, science labs, providing science labs with appropriate equipment and apparatus, and having a healthy environment, great air circulation, natural light, proper acoustics, up to current standard fire suppression and security security measures, etc., and ending up with it at long-term energy-efficient building. A question keeps coming up, and it's rightfully, that's fine, is the question about can we fit into three schools? I see it as we either move students up, so in other words, WIS becomes pre-K to grade four, the middle school includes grade five through eight, and HES is emptied. But we have been told multiple times that WIS will not fit pre-K to grade four because of its site and and the building structure. The structure cannot hold another floor, and there are site

073constraints of wetlands and property lines. Or we can move students down. In other words, abandon the middle school, and WIS could be retrofitted to accommodate middle school needs, but move all the students into WIS. But WIS that would involve WIS being retrofitted, I call it, so that it could adapt to the middle school needs, which have uh middle school kids have different programming. HES would need renovation to house pre-K to grade five. So we would be doing work on two buildings, both WIS and HES, and I'm not sure that the HES project would not also be complicated and expensive. Plus, down the road, there is a possibility for universal pre-K, and again, that's not going to happen tomorrow, but it is being discussed, and that would uh increase the program's scope for the Weston public

074schools. So, can we do the small R, the basic mechanical repairs and roofs? That doesn't improve our spaces at all. Or we could do a small R plus plan. We could work on different sections, and that goes back to the document that Phil just presented. There are limitations. It's not much of it is not reimbursable. It might be risky for an older structure eventually, and it still does not address all the needs. Um we've also heard and we've concluded already that build new is now even more comparable to the renovate as new with the latest update from um Colliers' numbers. As a matter of fact, it looks like build new is a hair uh less expensive than renovate new. So, um I think we have we have now a strong argument to make to the

075state for a 20% rather than in around 10% reimbursement rate because of that. So, what about flexibility? And that has a you've heard that in comments and in some of the emails. Um I think that we discovered in our studies that certainly fifth grade could be added on to a middle school project. Uh right now, the net cost sounds like between 9 and 12 million dollars. Or it could be left as a future possibility. In other words, we could build a building that could house uh an additional grade level um on the site. Um flexibility also might be a possibility within WIS. While it cannot become a pre-K to grade four building, it might be able to add another grade level such as grade two. And if you dig through these notes, um I don't

076know I if uh you really are insomniacs, you could read the notes, but there was a discussion about this in 20 I can't remember the year, or 2019 perhaps, um where uh people said, "Yes, we could probably move grade two up to WIS." And that would free some space at HES for a future use. Maybe the district offices, uh district um uh superintendent's office could move in there, and that would free up the district's uh Board of Ed offices for perhaps town use. Again, this is just flexible, these are not ide- I mean, they're they're ideas, none of which have been vetted, but this plan, I think one concern was are we are we having a plan that provides us some flexibility? So I'm just trying to make the point that grade five is flexible,

077um depending on when we would want to uh add it, and WIS has some more room for some kids, which could free up some room at HES for other uses. So that leads us to tonight, and again, I'm trying to make the point that we're trying to build on what has come before us. Um so I encourage us to move to the next step, which is to include the Board of Selectmen and the Board of Finance to look at these flexible flexibility possibilities and whether or not they even dovetail with town needs. And of course, the elephant in the room is the price. It is astounding. We are all on the same side about that. There is work to do. The Board of Ed Board of Finance has in for- has reformed its debt capacity

078study committee, and that can show us the financial impacts to the taxpayers and the town. These are critical pieces to our understanding, and I think we all want to hear that dialogue and have that dialogue and hear that information. That information is the purview of the Board of Finance. The Board of Ed does not um determine uh the affordability um issues around tax impacts and bonding and all of that. So, we want So, in taking a approved set of Ed Specs forward, we can have that conversation. Um the Board of Ed, we will do our job. We'll continue to examine the price. Are there other grants available? Are there some reductions perhaps we have not yet thought of? And also importantly, that the Board of Ed, the Board of Selectmen, the Board of Finance, and

079community members, I recommend that we lobby the state for a higher reimbursement rate. We think we have the argument for 20%. I'd like to push for 40% or uh at least. So, that's where I'm coming from and that's why um I would support approving the Ed Specs that were updated. So, I'm we'll open it to other board members for comments. Deb, I totally agree with you. I've been on the Board of Ed for a year and a half and we've done careful analysis of the three options and we've looked at it, we've asked questions, hundreds of questions, listened for a long, long time. As a lifelong educator and student advocate, um I have heard the options and I think you're 100% right. We need to move this forward. It's about the safety and security and

080academic needs of our students and we need to build new and move on. We I think all of us are sta- startled at the price and it's really hard because everything is going up. We get startled every time we go to the grocery store, but what we really need to remember is that the price tag isn't in one shot. We're going to have a bond that's going to be over 30 years and we need to break down that number for our constituency because it's more like on the average house, how much are taxes going to go up and I know that's a Board of Finance issue, but it's not We look at it it's a million dollars, but we're looking at a thousand to two thousand dollars in a year and we need to break

081it down and I think that's the next thing that the Board of Finance has to do, but we need to move forward the best options for our students and that's why we're here. We're advocating for our students the best option and I think you've said it well, Deb, that we need to move forward building a new school. Thanks a lot. Thanks, Lisa. Anyone else? You know me, Deb. I'm not really quiet. Um all right, so I've been on the board for a while, um almost as long as most of these um surveys have been done or not surveys, but studies have been done and you are absolutely right in that we have tried our best to really examine every opportunity. Um nobody really likes these price tags. These price tags are exorbitant. Um but at

082the same time, you know, Phil even mentioned that every time we kick the can down the road another year, we add a few million dollars onto these projects. >> [clears throat] >> So, I think real the reality is we you know, there's renovate as new, there's small our renovation, there's new construction and right now we are basically experiencing paralysis by analysis. Um and it's getting really expensive. So, I think our best bet right now is [clears throat] to approve the Ed Specs as we have set forward here and move it forward because one of the one of the folks who spoke earlier tonight said it has to be a whole town conversation and it absolutely has to be a whole town conversation. The more we rolled around on the Board of Ed doesn't help move

083it forward. The only thing we're going to be able to do to move it forward is to approve the Ed Specs, give them then to the Board of Finance who can then tell us come back and tell us what we can and can't afford on the record in a meeting as opposed to just kind of back of the envelope. And we can basically use that 16-month design time to sharpen our pencils then knowing that if we have to go out and well, we would have to go out and do a referendum, right? So, with the referendum that'd be the worst case scenario. We would work as a board and as a town to get a higher reimbursement rate from the state and explore a variety of other avenues for grants, etc. to be able to

084lower that price and then again in the design phase be able to sharpen our pencils and get some of the um get some of the the the cost down in that in that period as well. So, it's a horrible number. I'll be honest. Nobody really wants to pay it. Hopefully, we won't end up paying it, but that could be a worst case scenario. But more importantly, I think that in order to get beyond this, you know, paralysis by analysis, we just need to move forward. So, let's you know, approve the Ed I I believe we should approve the Ed Specs as it stands now, move it to the Board of Finance, move it to the Board of Selectmen and let's all have a conversation as a town so we can get this moving forward cuz

085we can't afford not to anymore. All right. So, that's that's my thought on it. Thank you. Anyone else? Sure, I'll chime in. Thank you for the summary, Deb. The middle school will inevitably fail unrecoverably. It's pretty easy statement to make cuz it's inevitable. The most prudent, sensible, responsible, reasonable, and rational using all our words, thing to do is build a new 21st century school. And I think uh both Lisa, Sharon, and Deb have all talked about the educational benefits. But let me add another number. The trend line indicates every minute we delay costs Weston taxpayers $23. So, this meeting has already cost them $2,000. So, if you want to talk about costs and taxes and let the Board of Finance make a decision, $23 a minute. Let's see where we are in 2 years from

086now. This trend line knows exactly, using fourth grade math, where we'll be in 2 years from now. So, I say call the architects tomorrow morning and stop wasting $23 a minute. Okay, thank you. Anyone else? I can speak. Thanks. Um so, I appreciate everyone's time. I appreciate working and discussing with everyone. I appreciate Deb's organization of this meeting. Um you did say in 2024 the recommendation to build a new middle school was not put forward by the Board of Selectmen because it was said that community Excuse me, there still needs to be more work done and there still needs to be more community work and I still agree with that. I think that there is more work that we can do. I don't have analysis paralysis because I have the pleasure of only being on

087the board for 5 months. I think, Deb, you mentioned a lot of scenarios in a very high level way. They were mentioned in previous meetings in a very high level way and I really would like to spend more time going into more detail about them with professionals and having us all like brainstorm and share. I really do think like I'm also not here to kick the can. I'm here to do really real work. I appreciate everyone who has stepped up to do it once a month or more since December and I'm ready to keep working like that because I I do feel that more just more alternatives really, really need to be discussed, given merit, given weight with professionals involved and we're talking about 2017 and 2019 studies. In my professional life, I would not

088rely on documentation that old. I I would get it updated and I would really understand with what we're working with right now. We have a new board composition. We have a new superintendent. We have new residents in town and I'm not saying I don't think it's going to take that much longer, but I with the process that we've had so far, I really know a lot about build new. I really know a lot about renovate as new. I I don't think I need to know more about those, but I need to know about other things and at this point I'm not ready to make a decision. In terms of Ed Specs, I haven't reviewed the Ed Specs. The Ed Specs weren't presented to us. It's a 387-page document that a layperson cannot understand and I

089would really appreciate the opportunity for the people who worked on the Ed Specs and the real experts to present it and we can work on it and brainstorm together because a lot of group work still needs to be done and I just don't think it's been done yet and um for that reason, I I just feel I'm not opposed to a new middle school. It obviously would be fabulous, but I'm not ready to make that decision. Okay, thank you. Anyone else? Yeah, I'll jump in, Deb. Um Yeah, hold on 1 second. Okay. Um okay, listen. Uh thanks to everyone. Deb, I look, I think you've run a really good process here uh over the last, I want to say, you know, 6 months or so, uh >> [clears throat] >> 4 months or so. I

090think we've done a great job. Um I think you've involved everyone. I think you've you've brought in Colliers and um we've had a a lot of opportunity to examine build as new renovate as new. And look, you know, renovate as new for me at this point, um that's not an option. The build as new is cheaper. The state then would not approve any reimbursement in my mind, um or it'd be foolish to for a renovate as new, and we'd be foolish to pursue that. So, the one option that we have here is build as new. Um but look, I'm in favor I've been here since 2023 uh on the board. Uh it's been a lot of stopping and starting. I'm in favor of finding a solution. I'm in favor of doing it sooner than later.

091Um Peter's mentioned this as have others, right? It's costing us more each passing year minute. Um and it's not ideal for the students, either. Uh I do think that look, I agree with Nicole on this. Um I do think that I'm not opposed to building as new. I I think I I don't have the full picture yet. Um I keep coming back to this, Deb, and I know you've mentioned it. This is sort of you know, this something I keep harping on, but I do think it's difficult for me to understand how we can divorce the building project from the financial aspect of what the town can afford, frankly. Um I also think, you know, in a way, it's myopic for us to necessarily just focus on the middle school, even though that is look,

092that is a big concern, obviously. We need to figure this out. Um but the responsibility is to the entire district. And so, I want to solve the middle school problem. I also want to make sure that we have adequate capital to maintain all the buildings in the district, so we don't find ourselves in this position again. And so, for me, I need to understand I I I think we need to present the town with additional options. I'm not opposed to moving this forward, Deb, in in any way, but I do think that we have to continue to work the work. We Ultimately, I need to understand the budget. I need to understand the all the things you mentioned before, Deb, right? The town's rating, the impact taxes, how much dry powder we're going to have

093at the end of this um to maintain the other schools. And so, again, not opposed to this option or any options at this point. I think it's we're still in discovery phase. And I think we've done such a good job up until this point. I think we have to keep moving forward. So, again, happy to forward this, but I don't want to stop the analysis here, cuz we've come so far. And I don't want to risk last comment here, and I'll I'll turn it over, but I don't want to risk um once again us falling into the trap of presenting one option for the Board of Finance or the First Selectwoman or something someone to say, "We can't do it." And then we're back to square one, and we've wasted another year. So, uh that's,

094you know, I I do think we just have to keep moving forward, Deb. I'm I'm not opposed to anything that we've that we've discussed or necessarily the build as new, but I do think we have to keep exploring. I'm going to hop on that for 2 seconds. Michael, I agree with you. We have to keep exploring, and that's why I was referring to we need to get the ball rolling, but as the ball is rolling, we can work, right? So, we can work during the design process to figure it out. Like, for example, you know, the one of the people in public comment tonight mentioned something about, you know, the middle school accommodating 740. And I remember seeing that number at the last meeting going, "What? That What Why are we accommodating 740 students? That's

095way beyond our projections." And that has to do with classroom size. So, there are a variety of things that we can do is is square footage right, right? So, in the design process, we can address a lot of that. And we can we can we can hopefully get the school down to a little bit of a smaller size and get a, you know, a better reimbursement, too. So, I think that there are a variety of things that we can do, and I think we have to continue to explore. But if we don't at least start this process outside of the Board of Education, we're just talking in circles at this stage. So, that's my That's my point. I really think we just need to move this through the town and have the town see us

096continuing to work on this exercise and and trying our best to find ways to make it affordable for the taxpayers. Um but we I I really think that we need to um to do the to just move this process forward. And And Deb, I have to thank you because having been on this board for how many years, 5, 6 years, you were really the first person to push this and say, "We have to address it. Let's move." And And And we need we need this. We need your energy, and thank you very much for taking this responsibility. I appreciate it. All right. Um thank you. And Michael, I I agree with everything you said that we want to keep the conversation going, but we have to have an it. And by approving the ed specs,

097um I think we have the it, and then it gets modified or revised or um you know, and obviously the Board of Finance has to model it for us, so we see the tax impact. Um and there aren't any plans to back off our capital plan, and the Board of Finance will will put that in and see see where we end up. Uh but until we have an it to sort of point at and say, "Here, here's the starting point. Let's work together and and see how far it goes." All right. I think uh I have to jump in at this point. So, here's my feedback. I think the process with the town is for me frustrating because I wish the town would just simply give us some sort of allowance. Tell us what is

098affordable, so that we have some direction. All the effort we've put in as a board, which has been for Sharon and I, 6 years, 5 years, whatever it may be. Um and Deb, you compressed that timeline into uh a few months. So, congratulations on that. But I find I find I think the process with the town may to be incredibly frustrating, and it seems to me like we have to move something forward, and the town is basically the town being the Board of Finance and the Board of Selectmen is saying, "We're not going to consider anything until you tell us what it is that you want." I think that was what Deb refers to as the it. And right now, we have only one it, and that is build new, because we have a build

099new option, we have a renovate option. The renovate option makes no financial sense, so we really have one option. But to go back to what happens tomorrow is kind of the my thought. So, tonight we make some decisions. What happens tomorrow? So, if we So, I, you know, I we can read the read the room. It looks like we have a couple people who are thinking this is not we're not ready yet. The majority of board members seem to be ready to move something forward for the Board of Selectmen and the Board of Finance to consider. So, my question simply is, what happens tomorrow? Do are we do we just say our work for the moment complete, and we wait for the Board of Finance to model, which is easily 2 to 3 months out,

100because they just I think they just reconvened that group. Um we have our ATBM in about 3 weeks. Think they're going to wait until we see what the ATBM looks like. If there is a general feeling in the town that people are financially uh not willing to support some of the initiatives that the town's trying to do, I think it would indicate to us what the appetite's going to be for a referendum in the fall. So, what does tomorrow look like if we move this forward? Are we in fact going to just say this is the it and wait for the feedback, or are we going to look at that small R. I I don't know the question to that, uh but I think we do have to do something, and the it at the

101moment is build new, and I just worry that we're going to lose time. I worry that we're uh in 2024, I think it was 90 million or 100 million that we asked the Board of Selectmen to look at, and it came back within 2 days, and they said, "This is not financially doable." In 2026, it is um 125 million. So, I don't know what's changed. So, my fear is just we're losing time not having another option, and if the process is frustrating that we have to move this forward. So, my I just my the question I'm going to pose is, do the ed specs bind us in any way to a particular design, a particular layout, three buildings versus four buildings, grade configurations? Where does it Where What are the Ed Specs relative to a

102decision we make today and where we might find ourselves tomorrow, a month from now, 3 months from now? Well, I can't speak to all of the town process cuz I'm not sure exactly what it is. Um I do know that um that they they meaning the Board of Selectmen and the Board of Finance need to do their jobs in terms and they're slightly different. The Board of Finance needs to look at the affordability question and do all the modeling about tax rates, um bond lengths, um debt capacity, AAA bond rating, all of that. Um and that's going to take some time and I think they started their work last week. Um the town uh the Board of By that I mean the Board of Selectmen uh they need to review it. Um and they also

103uh need to you know everybody kind of needs to work in conjunction with each other. It's the Board of Selectmen's responsibility to set a referendum date. It's the Board of Selectmen's uh responsibility to establish a uh building committee. And it's the Board of Selectmen's responsibility um to authorize um uh the Board of Ed's application for a a construction grant. So, those are their three responsibilities as I understand them. Um and then but again, that will involve a conversation with the Board of Ed, probably the Board of Finance as to the pros and cons of you know, um do we want to move forward at all? Do we want the voters to decide this? Um if we do, when's the referendum? If we do, when's the grant application? That's a pretty long involved conversation is my

104guess. Uh but um and I can't I really don't know the calendar, David. If you're asking about a calendar, that much I don't know. But I do know that those are the different steps involved. And that um we're we're signaling, you know, we're ready when they are to start talking. Um start having the the um you know, the next steps in the process. You know, we we do our part, I I think through recommending what we think is in the best interest of the kids. And we considered it, I think, every which way we could. Uh we can certainly continue to get um more detail about R with a small I mean, renovate with a small r, that's fine. Um but we do at least have a sense of scale, uh what that means and

105what it does not include. So, my guess is that number gets bigger. But we can absolutely work on that. Um and again, uh and again, the Board of Finance is going to be interested, too, because there is reimbursement and there's not reimbursement. And I don't think we can start doing much to lobby anybody without something that says, "Here's the plan." Um and 20% 10% isn't enough. We can make the case for 20 and we're hoping to make the case for more. A larger percentage. Okay. Yeah, so I think that this the process is super flawed, but we do have to do something with it. We have the it. And um I just like I said, I fear that we should definitely be looking at the small r in parallel starting as soon as possible just

106so that we have that fall back plan because if we So, we have a fall back plan that hopefully we don't need. But I think I think the process is flawed. With the town. Well, I I think it I mean, it's eventually every everything's included and every you know, again, the whole financial piece is huge. Um so I don't know how to do anything except get it started. Okay, any other comments? All right, is there a motion? I think there is. Uh board book, where'd it go? All right. I can get it up in a minute. If you have the agenda I sent you, it's on that, too. Oh, okay. Mhm. Uh ba ba ba ba ba. Okay. So, uh be it resolved that the Weston Board of Education hereby approves the educational specifications for

107a new middle school dated March 2026. Is there a second? I second. Okay, thank you, Lisa. Is there further discussion? I just want to make one comment about the Ed Specs. These are the Ed Specs that um the majority of which were approved in um 2024 and have been on our website and that we have updated them to include the recent board work and the square footage um differences uh as a result of the uh SLAM and Colliers work in 2026. Hey hey Deb, just a quick question. Um to to David's point before, does does this bind us if we pass this and move it forward? Does it bind us to what's in that report currently? In that in that specification currently? Um no, I I don't know what by my by um binding. Again,

108it's a description of the spaces that we would like that again, we would like to see for the kids. So, it's the number of classrooms, number of labs, cap size of the cafeteria, size of the gym, the square footage um allocations that were written in the Ed Specs, then the the whole gross up factor um uh based on the Colliers and the SLAM work. So, it's really a description. Um there's no price in there. There's no deadline in there. Right. Yep. It's a description. And Deb, the Ed Specs only come into play relative to a grant application, right? You have to have uh you can't Yes, that you can't apply for any grant without the Ed Specs being approved. Right. And if we were to pursue a small r Ed Specs don't play into a

109role with small r. Um no. I mean, well, again, I don't know what the small r looks like, so I can't exactly tell you. But in general, it's not the same. I don't think we're getting a reimbursement with the small r, so I don't think that it's necessarily the Ed Specs I don't think would necessarily come into play then. Yeah, again, the Ed Specs are a description of the spaces needed for renovate as new or build new. All right. Um are you ready to vote? All right. Um I'm going to ask all in favor and I'm also just going to ask you to raise your hands in addition to voice. So, all in favor? I. >> I. All opposed? I. Any abstentions? All right, the motion passes. Thank you, everyone. All right, the next motion

110and again, um this is talking about saying, "Okay, the specifics are in the SLAM phase one and phase two report. These are our latest numbers and description, etc. And we recommend that the Board of Finance and the Board of Selectmen consider them. And they also consider the timelines that Colliers uh had shown us. I think there were three of them. Uh maybe they'll come up with more, but they at least can the Board of Finance and the Board of Selectmen consider them. So again, this is sort of the um uh the reports that we have the latest latest data we have to turn over to the Board of Selectmen and the Board of Finance for their consideration. Is there any further discussion discussion about that? Yeah, are they actually called phase one and phase two?

111It's It's the It's the two different timelines, right? Oh, no, I'm sorry. Um SLAM phase one was done in February or I'm sorry, June of last year. I think they started in February of last year, but they presented in June 2025. That's where they said the structure um could be renovated as new. Okay. So, this isn't this >> then the phase two build literal I'm sorry about the whatever you call it, the um play on words, but it builds on that. Okay. So, this is not the the timeline that we talked about last >> no. And then but at the um at the end of their reports or maybe subsequent to those two reports, Colliers produced um uh sort of added on to SLAM's construction timeline with a timeline for a potential state grant application

112and where it would fit in terms of construction. And the ref and a possible referendum. So, will the Board of Finance or it come back to us. So, I presume they're going to model it first and when it comes back to us, uh do we then re Are we the ones that determine the grant application date and the two timelines or the Board of Finance? >> No, I I think No, I think again, the Board of Selectmen, as I understand it, set or are responsible for setting a referendum date and establishing a building committee and authorizing and I'm not This, I guess, I'm a little unclear of whether the Board of Ed authorizes or the Board of Selectmen authorizes the application for a straight grant. I thought it was the Board of Selectmen that authorizes

113that. Phil's nodding his head. I got something right. Okay. >> So, so I'm just curious like at this point, when it potentially the line of my questions are sort of when does it come back to us, if it comes back to us. So, what I think Phil is saying by my visual cues on your head, um so, we don't determine when the grant application goes in, the Board of Selectmen does. Yeah, but again, there's that um dialogue, that collaboration. I think if we ask them to consider the three timelines and, you know, I'm assuming, and maybe and I think rightfully so, that the Board of Selectmen will want us to come and present or come and talk or come and meet with them and go through the SLAM report and go through the timelines so

114they understand it as well and we can have some conversation back and forth. Okay. So, sorry to try and dig in on this, but >> it's okay. Yeah. So, again, it's really the process and the timeline is so, it other than a converse Yes, we should have a conversation, we should expect to have a conversation, but as far as the process goes, the Board of Selectmen will determine if the grant goes in for June of 2026 or June of 2027. I I believe that is so. Okay. And will the Board of Selectmen make the determination of option one right We were presented three timeline options, option one, option two, and option three, and I think we left our last meeting with a general consensus that if we were to move forward with the whole thing,

115option two seemed to be the preferred timeline. Does that Right, I think we can make our preferences known. Um yeah. Okay. That's the keyword, so the preferences, right? So, I'm I'm trying to So, this once this has left us, Yeah. Well, you you asked the the question in the last motion, will this bind us? This doesn't bind us to We want them to consider those SLAM reports and we want them to consider the timelines. And I think the implication is the Board of Ed stands ready, willing, and able to collaborate, to talk, to debate, to analyze, uh provide um additional information, whatever, uh to help the Board of Selectmen do their job and the Board of Finance do their job. Okay. So, we're sort of done. Other than communication, the decision >> Oh, yeah, communication

116never stops. >> No, right. But the decision-making piece of this For a while, for a while. I mean, we're going to start down the road with the Board of Selectmen and the Board of Finance. Well, sorry. Didn't you say that you wanted to start working on the little R? Yes, we can do that, too. separate workstream. Yeah, I'm I'm not sure that that'll take a while, perhaps, and we can talk about that at the next meeting in terms of what form that takes and what you want, I mean, what the Board in general wants. Yeah. So, Sharon, don't be picking out paint chips yet. All right, is there a motion? Hold it. Are we Did we We're going to discuss our preference for with some options? Is that the language you're about to read, Deb?

117No, I What I What I wanted uh was the Board of Ed to recommend that the Board of Selectmen and the Board of Finance consider SLAM report number phase one, SLAM report phase two, and the timelines developed by SLAM and Colliers or referendum possible, state grant possible, as it relates to a construction timeline possible. Right, so we're hemmed in by the three options on the table. And I just want to reiterate what I've said already. I'd like to have an option zero cuz what are we wasting every minute? $23 of the taxpayers' money. What would we waste in a month? $30,000. $30,000 a day. So, Phil, the brilliant you work you did on saving $600,000 for our budget in the insurance, we blow through in 20 days of just ta- chasing our tails. So, I'm

118I'm for option zero, but if it's only one, two, or three, I'll say that's a fine preference, go with that. Town is forewarned. Every day delay, $23 a minute out of your pockets. Okay, I understand, but again, we're not in charge of setting those dates, so we're giving them some information to look at and we can also talk about other options as well. Is there a um Is there a motion? I have the motion and I will gladly read it. Repeater though. Um move that the Weston Board of Education recommends that the Weston Board of Finance and Board of Selectmen consider SLAM's phase one and two Weston Middle School building assessments and consider the comparative timelines for the grant application, referendum, and construction of a new Weston Middle School. Is there a second? I second.

119Thank you, Lisa. Further discussion? All in favor, again, please raise your hand as well. I. I. >> I. Any opposed? I opposed with excitement and enthusiasm to continue the work of examining other options. Okay. Any abstentions? Okay, thank you. All right, that concludes our agenda. Um there are uh you see the next scheduled Board meetings. Um one is our, I think, regular meeting before we started all this, April 20th, but we also have a Weston Board of Education special meeting April 13th, which I recommend that we hold onto. Uh there's some other business in the district that's piled up a little bit and if we want to um uh put a a more specific picture around the small R renovate, we can do it then or we can start doing it then. Okay. So, with

120that, is there a motion to adjourn? Before we do that, I just want to say that anybody who wants to continue the conversation tomorrow, the Board of Finance is having their meeting. I believe there's Right? There's public comment. So, sort of what you have been hearing from the Board of Is there or not public comment tomorrow? There is, but it's on the um operating and capital budgets, not this project. But are we even on their agenda tomorrow? Uh yeah, Erica, I should I've let everybody know. Erica's on the agenda to present the Board of Education operating and capital budgets for 26-27 school year. Okay. The town budget will also be presented and then there's public comment. We're not really sure what order. The vote that we've just taken will not have any any showing at

121all in tomorrow's Board of Finance meeting, correct? Okay. No. All I'm saying at this point is now for the community to move forward with our document to the Board of Finance and the Board of Selectmen. So, if you want to be actively engaged, again, I'm plugging the Communication Committee, which I can call on Sharon or great members of with me that And you're meeting on Thursday? We are meeting on Thursday. So, two This is a must-tune-in week for all things Weston. So, but people should now start to kind of move their attention to the Board of Finance when it comes to the middle school, be ac- be uh active participants in the matter with the Board of Finance, and of course, tune in to the Communication Committee meeting on Thursday. It'll be something riveting, I'm

122sure. So, Deb, David opened the door. You know, clearly from public comment, our internal still lack of understanding of fundamental things in some cases. I think the service to the town is to have a dispassionate, professional, nonpartisan communication capability outside of elected officials. And we may have to get that at a point sooner or later for service of all the taxpayers, not just for the two boards. So, that's my recommendation that we really start thinking about that, because clearly uh there's a lot of things that need to be crystallized for a lot of people. We want that crystal clear. I think that was uh Tom Cruise movie for everyone. Thank you. Okay. Um perhaps if um we can consider that for discussion at our next meeting. Um so, I let's let's put that there. All

123right. Now, is there a motion to adjourn? So moved. Second. Second. Thanks, Lisa, and Peter, and everybody. All in favor? I. All right. Thank you very much, everyone. Thanks, everyone. Thank you. Good night.