"Good sign for schools: Hanover High, Vo-Tech make the SBA’s list for repair funding"

"HANOVER — Hanover High School and South Shore Vo-Tech have made the first round of cuts in the Massachusetts School Building Authority’s (MSBA) recently released list of schools most in need of repairs.

The two Hanover schools are on a list of 83 schools in the Commonwealth that have cleared the first hurdle in the quest for state funding. 

The news was announced Nov. 28 at a meeting of the school building authority. As a result, the two school districts will work with MSBA staff to determine what the best solution would be to the school’s problems. This year, the state lifted the four-year freeze on school building projects.

Chris Martin, Hanover School Building Needs chairman, said he’s thrilled that Hanover High School has advanced in the process. He along with Kerry Harrison, another member of the school building committee, and Hanover Public Schools Superintendent Kristine Nash, attended the hearing in Boston last week. Martin said the town first started studying Hanover High School in 1978.

Martin said the high school building itself, which is 49 years old, has never had any major improvements and is not meeting modern-day educational needs. The school, he added, is at maximum capacity and has inadequate science classrooms, language facilities and computer labs. The school, he said, was built before there was an Internet and other modern technologies. “Unfortunately, just the way the building is set up, it just doesn’t lend itself to today’s educational needs,” Martin said in a telephone interview.

The MSBA listed concerns at Hanover High School as those about the condition of the building and its capacity. Hanover school officials sent in a statement of interest under the category of feasibility invitation.

Martin said every year the town puts off renovating the high school, the more expensive the project becomes.

In 2001 when the town voted down a new high school project by 18 votes, Martin said at that time the project would have cost $31 million with 69 percent state reimbursement. Now, he said the town is looking at about a $60 million project with potentially a 40 percent reimbursement from the state.

In 2006 Hanover residents voted to allow the school building committee to use $3.1 million for the design of a new building after feasibility studies were conducted, according to Martin.

During the summer, MSBA representatives visited Hanover High School three times to view the conditions listed on the town’s statement of interest. The town had also expressed interest in the Sylvester Elementary School, but chose the high school as being of a more critical need.

Town representatives are scheduled to meet with MSBA staff in Boston on Jan. 16 to talk about Hanover High School.

“We are pleased that this long process is moving forward and the real work now begins,” Martin said in a prepared statement. “This was a collaborative effort to get to this point and we thank everyone from Rep. [Robert] Nyman and Sen. [Robert] Creedon to dozens of residents and committee members who have given their input on the project thus far.”

School officials from South Shore Vocational Technical High School submitted a statement of interest in the repair assessment category because of the school’s leaky roof and old windows.

Jim Rodick, chairman of the South Shore Vo-Tech. School Committee, said committee members were thrilled the school made the list.

“It’s a great thing,” Rodick said. He said the school is about 45 years old and parts of it are not in good condition. He’s hoping the school will make the final cut for funding. He said if the district could even get 50 percent of the repair money from the state, it would be helpful.

MSBA representatives are to visit the school this week, Rodick added.

Eight towns contribute to the budget for South Shore Vo-Tech: Abington, Cohasset, Whitman, Scituate, Hanover, Hanson, Rockland and Norwell.

In total, the school building authority received 423 statements of interest (the first step in the process) from 162 districts. The MSBA is expected to dole out $2.5 billion over the next five years to school projects, according to the MSBA."