A new Quincy High; a new Central Middle School; a new South-West Middle School; a new special education learning center; and now officially in the pipeline: A new Squantum Elementary School.
Planning is officially underway to replace the century-old Squantum School after Mayor Koch and the City received a critical vote welcoming the project into the state program for building new schools. Since he took office, the City has received more than $200 million in grants through the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) to transform aging school buildings into state-of-the-art learning facilities for the City’s young people.
These are generational projects with a singular purpose – providing appropriate, functional and lasting learning environments for our young people. It’s been a huge priority for Mayor Koch since the day he took office, and the work is far from done. The Mayor’s school building programs pairs with a similarly unprecedented transformation of the City’s playing facilities and parks serving our young people.
The elaborate process for the Squantum School guided by the MSBA starts with meeting eligibility requirements showing the City can finance and manage a project of this magnitude. That should not present much of a challenge based on the City’s history of successful school projects. From there, the project moves onto a feasibility study that determines the full scope of needs before a final project agreement, reimbursement rate, and schedule is voted on the MSBA Board.