Barnstable panel recommends mold-prevention contract and lays out multi-year facilities financing plan

Barnstable, Mass. — The Barnstable School Committee on Jan. 8 voted to award a contract for mold-prevention and on-call environmental consulting services and spent more than an hour discussing long-term facilities needs, including applying to state programs for construction and accelerated repairs.

The committee approved a recommendation from its evaluation panel to award the contract to Environment Med Services Inc. for an amount not to exceed $475,200.40. The vote followed public comments from parents who said students and staff continue to experience health problems they attribute to mold and indoor air quality at the United Elementary School (BUES) and elsewhere in the district.

Those public comments, and the committee’s subsequent discussion, mattered because the district is simultaneously completing a facilities-condition assessment and considering whether to apply to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) core program to consolidate schools. Committee members and consultants emphasized that near-term remediation work and longer-term capital planning must proceed together to protect health and control future costs.

The motion to award the environmental-services contract was presented to the full committee after an evaluation committee ranked three bidders on technical merit and then reviewed costs. The committee’s public materials state the recommendation is the unanimous choice of the evaluation group. The motion passed with the committee voting in favor; the committee did not record a roll-call breakdown in the meeting minutes.

Parents and staff told the committee they remain worried. “The testing completed, remediation carried out, and now the hiring of a mold prevention and on-call environmental health specialist are all wonderful steps,” said Erin Farrell of Osterville during public comment. Farrell urged the committee to “continue to listen to your employees, to the parents of students you serve, and to the students themselves.”

Hyannis resident Courtney Delamba told the committee her son has had repeated seizures and long bouts of fatigue she fears are linked to conditions at school, and asked for faster fixes and more transparent selection of consultants. “I ask you, please, please do whatever it takes to help these kids get better and the staff,” Delamba said.

Superintendent Sarah O’Hearn told the committee the district has received multiple inspection and deficiency reports from vendors and state agencies — including work by Air Masters and the state Department of Public Health — and that the district is consolidating findings. She said Air Masters completed an HVAC balancing over the winter break, an engineering firm (BLW) is designing longer-term improvements that could become a capital project, and custodial staff performed a deep clean of the gym on Dec. 26–27.

Facilities director Doug Boulanger summarized structural and cost concerns about adding portable classrooms. The facilities subcommittee had previously authorized exploring used portables from another district but Boulanger said moving and installing them presents structural unknowns and rising cost estimates; initial planning estimated $1.7 million but new estimates rose toward $4 million for the likely sites and configurations the district would use.

Consultants from Colliers presented the facilities-condition assessment and outlined program options the committee could pursue. Colliers’ consultants Derek Osterman and Christina Mulligan sketched a 40-year, multi-project financing scenario that pairs an initial consolidated Hyannis project with later renovations or construction in other villages. Town finance staff outlined a “debt drop-off” strategy in which a large bond or debt exclusion is followed in later years by additional projects timed as earlier debt is paid down to smooth taxpayer impact.

Using an illustrative package of roughly $110 million in projects, town staff showed the average assessed homeowner with a $750,000 property would pay about $114 per year on average, with the highest single-year impact around $127 and the lowest around $97 under that scenario. Town staff said numbers are illustrative and would be refined if the committee pursues an MSBA feasibility application or applies to the state accelerated repair program.

Colliers’ presentation noted the district’s capital list totals roughly $122 million in deferred needs across school buildings. Consultants emphasized the MSBA core program (for new construction or consolidation) and the state accelerated repair program (for targeted system repairs) are separate application windows and have different timetables; the district’s staff recommended applying where eligible and reviewing site, enrollment and community input through the MSBA feasibility process.

Committee members said they want broader community engagement before committing to specific sites. Several members urged townwide forums so village residents can weigh in on whether a new consolidated Hyannis school or village-level renovations better meet long-term needs.

Why it matters: The contract award secures a district-wide, on-call resource to advise indoor-air-quality testing, prevention and remediation as findings from the state Department of Public Health, district engineers and consultants are coordinated. The broader facilities discussion put a financing pathway on the table that could lead to applications to state programs and multi-decade borrowing to replace or renovate older schools.

Looking ahead: The committee’s facilities subcommittee will continue to review reports, refine cost estimates and hold public forums on potential consolidation and repair projects. The awarded environmental-services contract is expected to support immediate testing and preventive planning while the district considers capital options and possible MSBA engagement.