Wachusett school committee unveils interactive facilities tracker and approves updated 10-year capital plan
Summary
Superintendent Dr. Riley introduced a new interactive WRSD Facilities Tracker and recommended districtwide safety upgrades including bidirectional amplifiers (BDAs); the committee approved the updated 10-year capital improvement plan and recommended projects to member towns.
Wachusett Regional School District Superintendent Dr. Riley introduced a new interactive facilities tracker and urged the committee to prioritize safety and long-term capital planning, then the committee approved an updated 10-year capital improvement plan.
Dr. Riley said the district has invested “millions” in facility work over the past three years and described a tool designed to replace static spreadsheets. "This is our new WRSD Facilities Tracker," Dr. Riley said, describing dashboards that show systems27 ages, completed and approved projects, and notes on operating costs and life expectancy estimates.
The tracker groups projects as future, completed, approved and proposed. Dr. Riley said the district will use the tool to give towns a clearer picture of needs and to identify projects that may qualify for state reimbursement programs, including the Massachusetts School Building Authority27s Accelerated Repair Program.
A major immediate recommendation was installation of bidirectional amplifiers (BDAs) to strengthen first-responder radio communications inside school buildings. Dr. Riley said BDAs average about $90,000 per building, with larger facilities costing more: "I think Houghton27s footprint is much larger and that would cost, I think it's $135,000," he said. He added project estimates should include a contingency (he suggested 7–10 percent) to reflect likely price changes between estimation and procurement.
Committee members praised the tracker as a transparency and planning tool and urged the district to publish it publicly with change notes and an RSS feed so towns and residents can follow updates. Member Janet said making the tracker public and adding explanatory notes would make project histories easier to follow across towns.
Dr. Riley explained how projects will be handled in practice: some items shown in the FY27 column are previously proposed projects not being requested immediately, while the new BDAs are the active requests the district plans to present this year. He also asked to work directly with town administrators and capital committees when towns lack a formal capital process.
Votes at a glance - Motion to accept the updated 10-year capital improvement plan as presented: moved and seconded; passed by roll-call (chair abstained). - Motion to recommend capital projects for member towns (including BDAs proposals): moved and seconded; passed by roll-call.
What happens next Dr. Riley said he will send formal letters to each member town outlining the recommended projects and offering district support for planning and procurement. The facility tracker will continue to be developed (Dr. Riley estimated it was about 80 percent complete at the presentation) and the district expects to share more detailed project information with facilities subcommittees and town decision-makers ahead of town meetings.
Context Dr. Riley credited the Facilities Subcommittee, member towns and district staff (including Director Sklar and facilities staff) for recent work on completed and ongoing projects. He also noted the district has used the food services revolving account to invest more than $1 million in kitchen improvements across multiple schools.
The committee27s approval of the capital plan allows district staff to present prioritized projects to member towns for funding and town-meeting consideration.
