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	We're Heading Toward McMansion High School (The Wellesley Townsman – 5/1/2008) by Gig Kerivan, Guest Columnist Wellesley appears to be on the way to creating a McMansion high school. On April 14th, by an overwhelming vote of 84%, Town Meeting members appropriated $2.68 million for schematic drawings pursuant to the construction of a school that will cost in the range of $158-$175 million -- and counting. Amazing! One has to wonder how such an outlandishly expensive project could sail through Town Meeting virtually unopposed. Is there a bandwagon effect going on here? Are Town Meeting members really reflective of community sentiments at large? Has it become impolitic among the wealthy in Wellesley to challenge such extravagant School Building Committee plans? Will townspeople be able and willing to pay for the programs and people necessary to continue to produce quality education in the classroom, given the inevitable increases in taxation and the burden of debt incurred in funding such an exorbitant project? Some of us who have taught at Wellesley High School for a long time subscribe to the notion that fancy buildings do not an education make. Recent renovations, preservation, and new construction at Boston Latin and Brookline High School amply demonstrate the point that fiscal responsibility and educational excellence can go hand in hand. Next fall, if the economy continues to falter, perhaps people will have second thoughts about the SBC’s grandiose wish-list. There is an assumption that the town will be reimbursed with state funds for 40% of the cost of the project. Whether the Commonwealth is willing and able to underwrite another Newton North-type edifice is a moot point. From a neutral perspective, is it fair and appropriate for upscale Wellesley to be asking for diminish state tax dollars to satisfy the wishes of a well-organized, high-end clientele who have moved this project along from the outset? The fast-track strategy employed by the SBC to secure state funding is consistent with the idea I have heard expressed: “ . . . let’s not leave any money on the table . . . .” The attitude implied here is highly questionable, especially when other less well-off communities are competing for the same tax dollars. Advisory Board Chairperson Margaret Metzger said at the same Town Meeting that such a project “ . . . is going to require a great deal of money . . . ”, and that the SBC and Advisory saw “no feasible option short of a gut renovation or a new school. We don’t see the short cut or other alternative.” No one doubts that upgrades are needed or money has to be spent, but with all due respect, I don’t believe these elected and appointed officials have given the town a fair choice.h Last spring at the 2007 Town Meeting, the Wellesley High School Preservation Committee proposed an amendment asking that a portion of the $797,000 requested by the SBC for various architectural studies be allocated to explore a preservation model. This modest proposal would have been juxtaposed to the more radical concepts being floated at that time by the decision-makers. It would have put into play a much more cost-effective alternative. The SBC killed the amendment that could have opened the door to another way. In political parlance, their steamrolling tactics were used to stack the deck in favor of extravagant proposals that would soon include a new building as a top choice. It is an insult to one’s intelligence for the SBC to assert that Wellesley cannot have a first-rate high school costing significantly less than the two now being proposed. An independent architect should have been hired to present to townspeople a neutral professional opinion on the feasibility of preservation and new additions at tens of millions of dollars less than the current price tag. This option would have kept the superbly constructed 1938 Art Deco building intact, made the repairs and upgrades necessitated by ten years of neglect, and integrated the original building with any new configurations in a creative and imaginative way. But from the beginning of the process, the SBC took this option off the table. Their plans instead revolve around an over-the-top performing arts center and elaborate athletic facilities. These imperatives have driven the SBC mandate from the outset. Next December, all Wellesley voters will have the chance to register their opinions at the ballot box on the largest spending project in the town’s history. If a majority of townspeople vote NO on the SBC plan, it will send a clear message to decision-makers that Wellesley does not have to spend $158-$175 million in order to have a high school where the highest quality education can continue to take place.;;;; Gig Kerivan Harvard, MA 1962 graduate of WHS, 32 years teacher at WHS, member of Wellesley High School Preservation Committee

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