School committee reviews 71‑page educational‑program draft and space‑planning options for Robinson project

The Westford School Committee heard a presentation of a 71‑page draft educational programming plan for the Robinson School building project and a companion space‑program that lists every room, size and count needed to support the district’s instructional vision.

Superintendent Dr. Chu introduced the draft as an MSBA‑prescribed template compiled with input from principals and district staff and said the document and space program will be submitted to the Massachusetts School Building Authority for feedback. He thanked a broad team of contributors, naming principal Kevin Lacost, principal Pete Meerson, principal Chris Lewis Sardella, curriculum leaders Dr. Julie Kelly, Aaron Hogan, Andrea Mahia, instructional technology supervisor Lisa Sanderson, Courtney Moran and members of the design team including Mike Pella and Jenny Kadamaki.

The design team summarized the visioning work conducted March–May, which included classroom shadowing, site visits to precedent schools and full‑day visioning workshops. Mike Pella said the sessions produced recurring priorities: a safe, welcoming school that preserves community and belonging; flexible spaces that can adapt to changing enrollment and pedagogy; shared learning and small learning communities that keep supports near classrooms; and developmentally responsive arrangements for younger and older elementary grades. "We shadowed students and teachers in your three elementary schools," Pella said, describing how observations informed space needs.

Jenny Kadamaki explained the role of the space program (a line‑by‑line inventory of rooms and sizes) and walked the committee through three enrollment scenarios discussed in the draft and the low‑/mid‑/high‑capacity footprints that result from them. The presenters reported the three enrollment scenarios as roughly 470 (about 107,000 gross sq ft), 705 (about 140,000 gross sq ft) and a larger scenario discussed verbally (described in the presentation as about 190,000 gross sq ft). They emphasized that the MSBA calculates reimbursement against ‘‘program’’ space but that gross area includes walls, mechanical rooms, stairs and circulation.

Design team members said MSBA rules often limit reimbursement for pre‑K and administrative support space but noted precedent for MSBA funding of pre‑K classrooms when those spaces are documented in the educational program. The consultants also flagged that special education spaces, when explicitly justified, can increase MSBA‑eligible square footage.

The presenters reviewed required MSBA alternatives (baseline/code repair, renovation/addition and new construction) and noted the team is studying 18 options across candidate sites. Farmer Way had been added as an additional site to study; the team described the Day site as constrained by setbacks, a river corridor and transmission lines and therefore less feasible for larger options. The process will include building‑committee and tri‑board review in July to approve the preliminary design program, fall community meetings to refine options and a preferred schematic decision later in the PSR phase.

Committee members asked for clearer, centralized materials because many had received the 71‑page draft the same afternoon. The design team scheduled a public recap meeting (June 11, 7 p.m., hybrid) and said site plans and further schematic tests would be shown to the Robinson School Building Committee and the community in coming meetings.

The committee was not asked to make a design decision at the meeting; next actions are committee review of the draft, a July building‑committee vote to advance the PDP to the MSBA, and subsequent public redistricting and schematic work to narrow options.