School Committee members on Nov. 12 are expected to vote on a capital plan for fiscal year 2028, with Town Meeting next May to determine authorization of funds.

At this past Thursday’s meeting, Assistant Superintendent/Chief Operating Officer Jeff LaBroad outlined requests totaling $515,000 and also spoke about a $22.4 million geothermal project at the high school that potentially could be funded through Charleswood School money that was approved but not yet borrowed. (Town Meeting would need to vote to redirect that borrowing.)

LaBroad said the original 2026 plan for capital items had been cut by 54% or $1,118,250, acknowledging changes in administrative personnel as well as shifting needs and priorities.

For example, a standard request of $100,000 to $150,000 for technology replacement was eliminated in favor of more targeted needs, LaBroad said.

The list includes the following: $80,000 to replace a maintenance vehicle used for snow removal and sidewalk/road treatment; $50,000 to replace old, broken rear stairs at the middle school; $100,000 to continue replacing flooring and $100,000 for interior painting of hallways and classrooms, both at the middle school; and $60,000 for an offsite disaster recovery host.

LaBroad explained the latter was a technology tool that backs up district data systems in the event of an emergency recovery. He said it would be needed if the main service is damaged or goes offline.

Another request would seek $25,000 for a Marathon School stormwater mitigation study. LaBroad said the study is in direct response to an abutter’s concerns — that water leaves the property that was a wooded area and now ends up in a housing community.

Subsequent remedial efforts have been estimated to cost more than $50,000 in FY 29.

LaBroad noted the stormwater system works in accordance with its design, and it was permitted and met codes, but there is water present on the neighbor’s property.

“So why are we paying for this?” asked School Committee member Chris Masters.

Vice chair Jamie Wronka noted all the homes have been sold, and the developer is gone. Superintendent Evan Bishop added that a solution has to be a “group effort,” and that he met with the Department of Public Works about the issue.

Wronka said the district would be “taking the responsible path with the community,” by having a study to determine if it bears any responsibility for the stormwater problem.

“It’s most likely not our fault, and we did everything to code, and a developer, gone or not, has done work that caused this problem. … Is that correct?” asked Masters.

LaBroad replied that he could not speak with authority on that before the study, but the district does know the stormwater system is working as it was designed, and the Planning Board approved it.

HVAC proposal discussed

“But wait, there’s more,” LaBroad said jokingly, turning the conversation to the previously discussed replacement of the high school’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system with a geothermal system.

LaBroad said the $22.4 million project could be funded through “repurposing” the unused Charleswood School project debt.

Town Meeting will have to vote on repurposing that money.

The assistant superintendent said the HVAC system is nearing the end of its useful life and has components starting to fail.

He said replacing the system now would enable the town to achieve financial incentives, add cooling throughout the building and amount to the lowest net cost and best life cycle cost.

Replacement of the traditional system’s end-of-life components would cost an estimated $13.7 million, while the net cost for the geothermal option totals an estimated $12,758,000, he noted.

That number is realized when subtracting $7.6 million in investment tax credits, $1.3 million in Mass Save incentives, $542,000 in energy savings over the life span of the project and $200,000 savings on natural gas boiler maintenance. The project also is eligible for Green Communities grant money.

The idea is to leverage credits “so you leave no money on the table,” LaBroad said, adding that the federal and state reimbursement is available in the immediate future but uncertain beyond that.

He said if approved at Town Meeting in May, there would be shovels in the ground shortly after, when school ends.

“We’re not counting our chickens,” LaBroad added, noting engineering firm CMTA is aware that there will be a better sense of the community’s willingness to spend the money as the town moves through budgeting season.

“We continue to get the sense there is an appetite for this. [But] we’re going to listen,” LaBroad said.

Wronka noted the board had heard previously that contractors are reluctant to bid on and commit to work that is contingent on a future vote.

LaBroad responded, “They are keyed up and ready to go,” and requests for proposals could go out as soon as funding is authorized.

The assistant superintendent said Charleswood School owner’s project manager Vertex estimates there will be money “comfortably north of $20 million” that would not get borrowed and “thinks $30 million is not out of the question.”

School Committee chair Kyla McSweeney said she wanted to clarify that the HVAC geothermal project would not occur at the high school only for that building to be replaced.

The high school was built in 2001 and has a target life span of 50 to 75 years. The middle school was built in the 1950s and is “closing in on 80 years.”

LaBroad said the high school and Marathon School are in “great shape,” and Charleswood and Hopkins are “new or mostly new,” and it is time for the district to focus its capital efforts primarily at the middle school.

Facilities will be put in place “that our students deserve to learn in, our teachers will thrive delivering instruction in and all our educators can be really proud of,” he said.