Medford building committee narrows high‑school options, approves community mailer amid heated pool debate

The Medford Comprehensive High School Building Committee voted to advance a set of six finalist concepts to the Massachusetts School Building Authority for further study, approved outreach mail and spent the evening debating timelines, modular classrooms and whether the school’s pool should be preserved.

Chair Jenny Graham convened the meeting and the committee first approved two sets of minutes and the month’s invoices before moving to policy and design items. The board voted unanimously to approve minutes from the Feb. 25 and March 17 meetings and to pay three project invoices (Left Field, SMA and environmental/site work) as presented by the project team.

After the routine business the committee considered a proposal to send a citywide informational postcard to roughly 26,000 households using EDDM mailings. The project team presented vendor estimates ranging “about $8,000 to about $15,000,” and members debated whether the mailer should provide only awareness, invite participation, or include links to a tax calculator showing possible household impacts. The committee authorized the mailer and directed the project team to circulate a draft for committee review; that motion passed unanimously.

The…