The Wellesley High School Preservation Committee urges the formulation of a Wellesley High School Comprehensive Master Plan designed to guide policy and decision-making that pertain to the structure, site, and institutional integrity of the high school in both the near term and for decades to come.

The Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA), which oversees the reimbursement of state aid for local school projects, is now developing guidelines for an application process that will require a master plan encompassing both short- and long-term perspectives (963 CMR 2.10: (5), MSBA, Sept. 22, 2006). In fact, the Wellesley High School Facilities Advisory Committee in its report of April 2005 recommended the adoption of a comprehensive master plan for the high school and referred to it again in its report of January 2006. We believe it is to Wellesley’s advantage to create and adopt a comprehensive master plan at this time for the high school, first, because it fulfills the FAC recommendation; second, because it would stand as a practical measure for responsibly addressing the high school’s present and future needs; and third, because it would anticipate MSBA guidelines and would serve as a model for Massachusetts schools. Wellesley would do well to take the lead in this area. By its very nature, this plan would require us as a town to sustain a steady and well-considered view of where Wellesley is at any given time, and where Wellesley expects to be in the years ahead with respect to the high school, its campus, and its educational mission. A comprehensive master plan would enable us to consolidate and maintain a clear focus on issues concerning the facility, the site, the landscape, and the relationship between Wellesley High School as an educational institution and its need to accommodate changes in school population and programming over the next fifty years.

We have continued to express our desire for openness and inclusion in the discussion and planning for the restoration and preservation of the entire interior and exterior of the 1938 Wellesley High School and its 1978 Wilbury Crockett Library. To that end, we have recently urged the Board of Selectmen through The Wellesley Townsman (December 28, 2006) to establish a town-wide Wellesley High School Building Committee, consisting of representatives from town government, the School Department, the Parent-Teachers-Student Organization, high school neighborhoods, Wellesley’s institutions of higher education, and preservation interests. Also included should be an architect who is experienced in the restoration and preservation of historically significant buildings. We envision the Wellesley High School Building Committee as one that will guide all aspects of this important high school project and see it through to its successful completion.

We believe the Wellesley High School Building Committee, once established, should also formulate and implement the Wellesley High School Comprehensive Master Plan described above. Wellesley High School has achieved distinction through generations of purposeful development and action as a leader in education. The 1938 architecturally significant building embodies the school’s unique spirit of enduring excellence and should be the primary focus of a comprehensive master plan that is worthy of the town. Through town-wide participation this comprehensive planning process would ensure Wellesley High School’s preeminent position as an educational institution in the 21st century.

Next week: Restoration and Preservation IV - What needs to be done?