|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
NEW BEDFORD — An ongoing effort to revitalize, repair, and — in some cases — replace the aging school buildings in New Bedford has been characterized by an uncommon attribute: its speed.
Like districts across the country, New Bedford must allocate all remaining funds from the federal COVID payouts — known as ESSER grants — before Sept. 30, later this year. In total, New Bedford Public Schools received more than $70 million across three installments.
The district has $21 million of ESSER funds left to spend. The acting financial supervisor of New Bedford Public Schools, Barry Rabinovitch, told members of the School Committee, “There’s a lot of money yet to spend, but by September that will be zero,” at a recent meeting of the Finance Subcommittee.
So far the district is on track or has already completed several building projects as the deadline looms, according to district officials and financial reports. These include a new student health center, a centralized district kitchen, repairs to the high school’s swimming pool, and roofs, boilers, and security improvements in several schools.
The focus on building repair is an urgent focus for the new superintendent, Andrew O’Leary, who has long been vocal that New Bedford is overdue for more investment into its buildings. As the former finance manager for the district, O’Leary is responsible for crafting the ESSER philosophy: that the district will mostly use the one-time COVID-relief funds for one-time expenses — as opposed to relying on the soon-expiring funds for salary costs.
Other districts (including neighboring Dartmouth) decided to use larger percentages of the relief funds on teacher and staff salaries; as a result, the impending deadline represents a “fiscal cliff,” at which time districts around the country may face reorganizations or even layoffs.
In New Bedford, only 13 full-time staff positions were funded by ESSER grants, according to district officials. Even with this modest employment boost, School Committee member Bruce Oliveira said, “It’s back to reality next year.”
The urgency to update school buildings in New Bedford has also led to speed and collaboration among the city’s governing bodies. Last month, for example, the district needed rapid approval from the City Council to send a new round of renovation requests to the state.
The special session of City Council happened with such coordination and speed that council president Naomi Carney could barely read two resolutions on the docket before councilors blurted out their motions and seconds to approve.
The votes that approved these renovation requests bound for the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) — the state agency that can subsidize between 60-80% of approved projects — were fast and unanimous. So was a special motion that granted the city clerk the right to certify the council’s actions the very next day.
The whole session took about five minutes.
As councilors exited, Rabinovitch, the district’s acting financial supervisor, said that the session represented a successful coordination between the mayor’s office, City Council, and school department officials. With the approved renovation requests, New Bedford will become a candidate to win state aid that could lower a $28 million renovation bill down to $12 million.
Though ESSER dollars and applications to the MSBA are different mechanisms to receive funding, the coordination between New Bedford’s politicos comes after years of O’Leary’s urging on the topic of school buildings.
Altogether the focus on capital projects has yielded plans for new schools made possible with MSBA funds and renovations made possible with COVID funds. In a December meeting, the MSBA advanced several projects that could ultimately replace four 100-year-old buildings: DeValles, Congdon, Ashley and Swift elementary schools.
That makes this year, according to district officials and School Committee members, perhaps the best-in-a-generation opportunity for New Bedford to rebuild its old and out-of-date schools.
The funds have already brought much-needed upgrades to the roof and HVAC systems at Pulaski and Gomes elementary schools, and have helped build new career and vocational spaces at the high school. But some of the most ambitious projects to use ESSER dollars are still underway, and many could have an outsize impact on the daily lives of many New Bedford residents and citizens.
Here’s a rundown of some of the largest ESSER projects:
Health center could bring care to students by December
At the beginning of last school year, nearly 300 New Bedford students could not begin their studies because they lacked appropriate vaccinations — including for measles, mumps and tuberculosis.
This is one of the many problems a school-based health center will solve. By partnering with the Greater New Bedford Community Health Center, nurse practitioners and other qualified health professionals will be able to administer primary care services to students in a pre-fabricated structure on the campus of New Bedford High.
Because many New Bedford students are uninsured, some will have access to reliable health care for the first time.
Rabinovitch, the acting financial manager, said New Bedford’s school-based health center is on track to open this December.
Aspects of the project — including its exact location — are still in design. The district budgeted $4 million for the health center, which could be used to purchase and improve a pre-fabricated structure and to prepare the site.
The health center was the brainchild of Alex Weiner, Nick LeBlanc, and Ken Vasques, three friends from New Bedford who authored a “white paper” research project about the many benefits of providing health care to students — including reducing absenteeism and drop-outs.
The three friends brought the idea to the School Committee in 2022, but after it was approved said they have not heard anything about progress on the project.
Centralized kitchen will feed thousands, improve working conditions
To this day, thousands of students depend on the meals prepared in New Bedford’s central kitchen. But the workers who prepare those meals toil in dangerous and cramped conditions beneath the central administration building, as The Light previously reported.
This kitchen is the central hub for a complicated logistical operation that provides more than 5,000 meals every day to children in “non-cooking” schools — which include both public and private schools, such as Saint Francis Xavier in Acushnet.
The failure or success of this system largely depends on a rickety ramp that hoists meals out of a basement window and into trucks each and every morning. When the mechanism fails, workers hoist the thousands of meals out the basement window themselves, former kitchen supervisor Alice Johnson told The Light in 2022.
A new central kitchen was originally supposed to open in fall 2023 at a property the district purchased at 449 North Street. The spacious but vacant building will improve working conditions and a separate loading dock will greatly improve the meal-delivery operations.
Delays in the project have pushed the projected opening date to December 2024. The project has been awarded to Tower Construction for $12.1 million, and will be primarily funded by $9 million in ESSER grants.
Rabinovitch is also hopeful that a USDA grant will allow for the purchasing of new kitchen equipment and defray other expenses.
School meals are the primary source of nutrition for many of the city’s neediest residents. At the high school, where separate renovations to the school’s kitchens have already been completed, the improvement to school meals has had profound effects on the student body, according to Elliott Talley, the student council president.
Talley recently reported to the School Committee that a newly-implemented breakfast bar and after-school snack program have been hugely popular among students, and have even encouraged people to engage with after-school clubs, sports, and activities.
High school pool, upgrades to Hathaway and Brooks schools
Leaks in the swimming pool at New Bedford High led to flooding and wall cracks in a subterranean filter room. As a result, the pool was closed for more than a year.
The pool is now reopened after the district expended $2 million in ESSER funding to repair the facility used for physical education classes, the high school’s competitive team, and other community events.
With the new investment, the district is looking to revitalize water safety classes and learn-to-swim programs.
Some necessary updates to elementary schools have also relied on ESSER funding. One of the largest projects is accessibility updates to Hathaway School that the district expects will cost $12 million.
Two architectural firms have been engaged to design the updates to Hathaway, and Rabinovitch said that the plans are “95% complete.” A report from the district indicates that bidding for the Hathaway project will begin in March.
At Brooks Elementary, the district is looking to purchase additional modular classrooms for $2.9 million that will provide extra classroom space. Rabinovitch said that the project has been awarded, but construction has not yet begun.
Email Colin Hogan at chogan@newbedfordlight.org
Looks like Mr. R is not qualified for the job, along with many others in administration positions. That’s not unusual in the New Bedford Schools. Mr. O’Leary, Ms. Aungst, Ms. Coelho, food service head will not succeed unless heads of other departments are purged and replaced with qualified personnel. Including the hiring office.
You’re criticizing someone as you remain anonymous. That renders your credibility at zero. Shame on you.
Why would anyone comment using their real name? I’m not the original commenter but to expect people to put their real name on the internet is madness.
If you work in the New Bedford Public Schools, you know you can’t identify yourself because you become a target. I agree with the first person but from what I remember Barry R was a good man. Watch the news, more coming soon.
I agree with the first comment. With the exception of the comment on Barry R. I feel he’s a good man. The rest of the comment is correct.