District officials told the Weston School District board that an updated feasibility review and escalated Colliers estimates point to roughly $33,000,000 of capital needs across the district over 10 years excluding the middle school, with approximately $20,000,000 required in the next five years.

Why it matters: The presentation shows a substantial near‑term capital ask driven largely by heating, ventilation and air‑quality (IAQ) upgrades and deferred maintenance. Board members said they need educational‑impact analysis before choosing a middle‑school approach because any building or reconfiguration can materially affect reimbursement rates, debt capacity and long‑term operating costs.

Phil, the district presenter, said the district has grouped capital work into three broad categories: IAQ (about $12,000,000), other major construction (roughly $12,000,000) and remaining projects across the system. By school, his estimate listed Hobart at about $12,000,000, the high school about $12,000,000 and WIS roughly $3,000,000; the remaining projects fill out the 10‑year total. He described specific items including bathroom upgrades, sprinkler insulation and shared pool renovations.

Board members pressed for a concise spreadsheet and timeline to compare Colliers' escalated 2017 numbers with the district’s updated list; Phil agreed to provide an updated breakdown.

On the middle school, the board directed staff to study educational impacts for multiple configuration options, including a 5–8 middle school; a 2–5 and separate 6–8 model; a 1–4/5–8 split; a 2–8 model operating as two separate schools inside one plant; and a magnet middle school focused on STEM/AI/robotics. "We want schools to be aesthetically pleasing," one staff member said, but added that instructional spaces should get funding priority. The board asked Erica and Tina to return at the February meeting with the requested educational‑impact analyses.

Board member Peter urged the district to examine a magnet option that he said could improve enrollment and reimbursement: "If we build a magnet school ... we get 80% reimbursement," he stated; that claim was presented as a rationale for further study and was not validated in the meeting record.

What’s next: Staff will prepare educational‑impact analyses for the set of configurations and share an updated capital spreadsheet; SLAM and Colliers phase‑2 updates will be scheduled for February to align with consultant availability.