Southborough school leaders present draft FY27 capital plan; Neary renovation preferred, Trottier roof urgent

School officials presented a draft five- to seven-year capital plan for Southborough public K'8 schools to the Town of Southborough Capital Improvement and Planning Committee on Oct. 20, 2025, describing the plan as provisional and asking the committee for feedback before officials finalize requests for town meeting.

Greg, a school committee representative, said, "what we'll be presenting this evening remains in draft form" and that the school committee has already reviewed options. The administration identified a renovation of the Neary School to continue serving grades 4 and 5 as the committee's preferred option; Greg said that option was selected because it best matched what the town could support financially, even though it "meets many of the educational outcomes ... but not all."

Why it matters: school-building decisions carry large price tags and affect configuration across multiple elementary schools. The committee and town leaders said clear direction from both the school committee and the select board is needed so capital staff can finalize a recommended capital article for town meeting.

Major priorities and estimates

- Trottier roof: Facilities staff said Trottier has been accepted into the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) accelerated repair program for a roof replacement and that schematic work is underway. Keith, a facilities staff member, said the roofing consultant's rough figure from about two years ago is "around $5.8 million." Officials said more detailed cost estimates are expected in the coming weeks.

- Finn classroom floor replacement and moisture mitigation: The plan lists a program to replace classroom flooring across Finn School to address moisture and mold issues that date to a 1998 installation. Officials said past work replaced two to three classrooms at a time and that the committee is proposing to complete the remaining classrooms in a single project to gain economies of scale.

- Security-system upgrades and classroom technology: The administration proposed districtwide upgrades to security systems and classroom display technology. Officials said smaller, piecemeal upgrades would have limited impact and that consultants are developing a unified security platform covering all 10 schools. Rough figures discussed included about $300,000 for Woodward School security work and about $500,000 for Trottier security, and roughly $30,000 previously budgeted at Woodward to start technology upgrades, with an additional $180,000 cited for Trottier technology to bring classrooms in line with other schools.

- Neary School (spelled in packet as variously "Neary"/"NHERI"): The administration placed a roof replacement and a feasibility study for larger renovation work near the top of the K'8 capital list. Greg said the school committee's preferred option is a renovation to keep Neary as the grades 4'5 building; the architect's earlier base-repair estimate that was discussed in multiple meetings was about $45 million. The committee proposed earmarking $500,000 in the upcoming year for feasibility work; elsewhere during the meeting an administration member said $900,000 was the feasibility-dollar figure that would support more extensive design work if a renovation path were chosen.

- Asbestos and immediate repairs: The AHERA inspection flagged two areas needing abatement or encapsulation: the music (band) room ceiling and an expansion tank in the boiler room. Facilities staff said the music-room ceiling abatement and replacement had a prior estimate of roughly $20,000'$25,000, while full-building asbestos abatement would be in the magnitude of millions.

Discussion points and constraints

Officials repeatedly cautioned that price quotes from vendors have short validity windows. "Vendors are basically saying they're good for three months," Keith said, and staff said the district is escalating and updating quotes to the extent possible because market volatility is making long-term price forecasting difficult. Several committee members urged the administration and capital staff to incorporate contingency language in any town-meeting appropriation requests to account for price escalation.

MSBA status and timing

Greg said that, apart from the Trottier roof accelerated repair, the district is not currently partnered with the Massachusetts School Building Authority on any larger renovation or new-construction submission. He said the next MSBA statement-of-interest cycle opens in winter and that, even if the town submitted, reentry into MSBA's core-building queue typically takes two to three years and is competitive.

Decisions and next steps

No capital appropriations were voted at the Oct. 20 meeting. The school administration requested a joint meeting with the select board to review the pre-K'8 building committee report and to define a preferred pathway; capital staff said the timing of that joint meeting will determine whether certain projects appear on the FY27 capital article. The school committee also was asked to prioritize the capital list so capital staff can prepare final articles for town meeting.

Ending

Committee members urged the administration to provide updated, itemized cost estimates as soon as they are available and to clarify the scope of the proposed feasibility work for Neary. Officials said they expect to receive more detailed roofing estimates and consultant reports in the coming weeks and will return to the committee with revised figures and a ranked project list.