In order to avoid disruption to students at the beginning of the next two school years, the AHS Building Committee and School Committee recently voted to delay demolition of parts of the old school. This decision accommodates the start of school before the Phase 2 buildings are available at the end of September 2023. As a result, there will be an overall delay in the completion of the new school buildings by three months.
In a letter to the school community, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Homan outlined the decision.
Background
The original schedule, as contracted with Consigli Construction, called for demolition of parts of the old school prior to the Phase 2 buildings opening to students in the fall of 2023. A similar situation would have occurred in the fall of 2024. In both cases, there would not have been ample space for all students, programs and staff within the high school for the first three weeks of school. When working through the logistics of moving into the Phase 2 buildings next fall, the school administration concluded that the planned schedule was not in the best interest of students.
Options Considered
School administration explored several options. Two options were considered and debated by the School Committee and the AHS Building Committee.
Option 1
- Keep the current construction schedule.
- Employ an abbreviated, partial day schedule for students during the first three weeks of school. Students would attend only half of their courses each day for the first 11 instructional days in September 2023, possibly requiring some students to travel to campus in the morning and again in the afternoon.
- The resulting deficit of 30 hours instructional time would require schedule adjustments.
- With this option, there was no way to mitigate unforeseen schedule impacts due to supply chain or other issues.
- Cost = $300k+, not including costs for temporary relocation of district offices (Phase 3) or gym rentals for athletics (Phase 4).
Option 2
- Start both school years with regular school schedules and no disruptions.
- Delay demolition schedule of parts of the old school in order to accommodate the beginning of the school year.
- Delay Phase 3 building completion by three months and Phase 4 site completion by five months (additional two months because of winter-related construction issues).
- Cost = $1.2M to keep project partners on-site and assigned to the project through completion, as well as temporary conditions, subcontractor material storage, and labor and material escalation.
Decision
The School Committee discussed the options at meetings on August 26, September 8 and September 22. Ultimately, the School Committee voted unanimously to support the Superintendent’s recommendation of Option 2 (postpone demolition), because it was felt to be in the best interests of students and their education.
The AHS Building Committee carefully weighed the educational and financial aspects of each option at meetings on September 6 and October 11. The Building Committee unanimously voted for the School Committee and Superintendent’s recommendation of Option 2. The result is that the demolition of the old school will be postponed, causing a later completion of the Phase 3 new building construction and Phase 4 site work, and using $1.2M of contingency funds.
Schedule
| Phase | Original completion date | Revised completion date |
|
2 |
September 2023 | No change |
|
3 |
September 2024 | December 2024 (move in immediately after holiday break) |
|
4 |
April 2025 | September 2025 (fields available for start of school) |
Frequently Asked Questions
Why can’t the construction schedule be sped up?
During Phases 1 and 2, construction crews have already been working extended days and weekends. Phase 2 has always had the tightest timeline and the schedule cannot safely nor reliably be accelerated further.
Why was Option 2 chosen?
Based on the Superintendent’s recommendation, the School Committee recommended and AHS Building Committee chose Option 2 because:
- It is in the best interest of the students and their education and provides the least disruption.
- The students impacted have already experienced several years of disrupted schooling because of the pandemic.
- AHS is still dealing with higher rates of absenteeism from the pandemic. The first few weeks of school are exceptionally important to establishing routines and relationships and the school does not want to jeopardize this important start to the school year.
- There is no back-up plan for Option 1 if there is an unforeseen delay in the schedule.
- The costs of Option 1 continued to mount and are estimated at $300k PLUS the cost of temporary office space for district offices, and gym rental for athletics in 2024 during the Phase 3 to Phase 4 transition.
Why does this solution cost $1.2M?
The resulting project delay requires project team members from Skanska, Consigli and HMFH to stay on-site and be assigned to the project until completion. There are additional costs associated with temporary conditions, subcontractor material storage, and labor and material escalation. This results in costs totalling $1.2M not already allocated in the project budget. All significant project materials and components through the completion of the project have already been procured.
Where will the $1.2M come from?
The cost will be covered from the project’s contingency funds which started at $27M. This decision does not increase the cost of the project, therefore the project is not spending money not already allocated for the project. The AHS Building Committee’s vote stipulated that delay costs may not exceed $1.2M.
Have there been other project schedule changes to-date?
No. Per the contract with Consigli Construction in November 2020, there have been no changes to the project schedule until this point.
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