Committee hears FF&E estimate and MSBA reimbursement gap; reuse to be evaluated

The design team presented a takeoff and cost image for furniture, fixtures and equipment (FF&E) and a summary of pricing assumptions at the July 9 meeting.

A presenter summarized typical classroom furniture components and said, “On average, it's about $11,000 in today's pricing…,” and that the total current estimate for buying all new furnishings is roughly in the $900,000–$1.1 million range depending on reuse and escalation assumptions. The team said it has carried a 40% design‑and‑pricing contingency to account for market escalation and that some items (for example, science room demo tables) are included in the base construction numbers.

The committee and Superintendent Bobby discussed reuse opportunities. Bobby said the district has acquired flexible furniture in recent years and “we'll be able to reuse quite a bit,” but he could not give the committee a precise reuse dollar amount at the meeting.

Funding comparisons and per‑student metrics The design team noted it had been using a placeholder of about $2,000 per student for FF&E in earlier planning. The presenter said the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) still reimburses up to $1,200 per student (a historical figure the presenter said originated in 2008), and that current estimates put the project closer to about $3,000 per student before reuse — “about a third over that,” the presenter said.

Next steps The team will evaluate reuse with the school department and deliver an updated FF&E/reuse analysis at the next meeting. Committee direction was to have the reuse estimates ready for the Aug. 13 meeting when the committee will review full cost estimates and make final financial decisions ahead of town‑level votes.

Ending No formal votes were taken on FF&E at this meeting; the design team will return with a reuse assessment and more detailed line‑item pricing in August.