Tisbury voters go to the polls next week to make a final decision on the much-debated $46.6 million new school project that has divided the town.
Tisbury voters go to the polls next week to make a final decision on the much-debated $46.6 million new school project that has caused deep divisions in town.
The annual town election is Tuesday. Polls are open from noon to 8 p.m. in the town public safety building on Spring street.
A large turnout is expected due to the school question, the largest capital spending initiative in the history of the town. The question asks voters to exempt the debt on the project from the provisions of Proposition 2 1/2, the state-mandated tax cap.
At the annual town meeting two weeks ago, voters approved the school project by a wide margin (316 to 99) after two nights of heated debate.
“Now we have to remind people that’s their obligation to show up at the polls,” said selectman Melinda Loberg this week. “I do hear people commenting one way or another [on the school project], but they don’t all seem aware that there’s another step in the process.”
Mrs. Loberg has not taken a position on the school project, which has been in the planning stages for two years under the umbrella of the Massachusetts School Building Authority.
There are 3,529 registered voters in Tisbury, according to town clerk Hillary Conklin. She said she expects unofficial election results will be available shortly after the polls close on Tuesday night. The town uses voting machines and there is only one contested race on the ballot, for the finance committee.
At the annual town meeting the school question was moved to the top of the agenda on a 40-article warrant. Discussion ran for two nights and drew an overflow crowd of more than 400 voters each night. The article required a two-thirds majority vote, and easily passed in a standing vote.
A simple majority is needed in order for the question to pass in the ballot box.
The school building committee, composed of 17 members from the school and the town, is proposing to build a new, 76,000-square-foot facility on the same site as the current school. The existing school which dates to 1929 would be used to house students during construction and then demolished, according to the plan.
The project has drawn passionate debate from town officials and citizens alike, many of whom attended the school themselves decades ago. The Commentary Page in today’s edition is filled with letters on the subject from selectmen, building committee members and Tisbury residents.
Following a competitive application process, the school building committee has worked with the MSBA since early 2016 to develop the plan. The state program has committed more than $14.6 million in funding support for the project pending town approval of the override question on the ballot. That leaves the town responsible for borrowing about $32 million. If the measure fails at the ballot, Tisbury risks losing MSBA funding.
With the guidance of the MSBA, the committee has chosen Daedelus Projects as their owner’s project manager. Turowski 2 architects have designed the proposed building, which building committee members say will accommodate a new era of flexible learning environments, a larger cafeteria and better technology. Among other benefits, proponents of the new school say it will better serve students with special needs. Some special needs classes currently take place in a modular unit outside the existing school.
The proposed building would be larger than the existing one and is designed to serve 285 students in grades kindergarten through eight. The school would also be able to serve students in pre-K. Construction would begin in the summer of 2019, with an estimated completion date of August of 2021.
Opponents include taxpayers who worry about whether they can afford the steep cost of the new school. If the measure passes, taxes are expected to increase about $100 per $100,000 of property value and would continue to stay elevated for the next 20 years.
Other critics advocate for a renovation and addition to the existing school over building a new school, citing the historical significance of the old brick building, and calling new construction wasteful and more harmful to the environment. Some too have expressed concern about increased maintenance costs for the larger building.
The school question is the most watched issue on the ballot this year, but when they go to the polls Tuesday voters will also elect new town leaders.
The lone contested race on the ballot is for a three-year term on the finance committee. Four candidates are vying for three positions: Paul Cefola, Nancy Gilfoy, and Thomas Lawrence Keller are all running for re-election, while Laura Rose has joined the race as well.
Selectman Larry Gomez will not seek re-election after serving a single term. Island business owner and electrician Jim Rogers is running unopposed for the seat.
Comments
Thank you for this article. I
Voting for school supporters VHThank you for this article. I won't vote for anyone not supporting the school.
I am in absolute support of
Went to Tisbury SchoolI am in absolute support of our town leaders who have taken the fiscally responsible stand to be against this disastrous proposal. Thank you Mr. Israel and others for being strong and smart in this long process. You speak for the heart of this town.
Stand and Fight!
EmilyStand and Fight!
VOTE NO !!!
As far as I'm concerned I
Tisbury voter TisburyAs far as I'm concerned I will be voting No.Still think our old school should not be taken down because it's a Historical building.Wish Historical society would take a stand on this issue.Town complains about a roof on a bank and goes to court using our tax dollars and were taking down a beautiful brick building very confused.Also tax rate will hurt many of us who are just trying to live on this very expensive island.Still feel Stop and Shop should be torn down not our school,then maybe we will get extra tax money coming in from a new beautiful building,then we could afford a new school.Thank you to all Tisbury boards and committee members for your time,but it's not a yes vote for me.
What a great well thought out
Bob EdgartownWhat a great well thought out comment and if I was in Tisbury I would vote right along with you. The schools are all being built 2 big as there is no way with the cost-of-living and housing here that young families with kids will be here to populate the schools.
Tisbury---the voters,
Tisbury Voter 2Tisbury---the voters, selectmen, finance committee---put the cart before the horse when it failed to do basic fiscal planning ahead of letting the School Building Committee put a "wish list" school on the table as the only available option in a take-or-leave-it scenario.
Some voters and elected town officials have pointed out that voting NO is a preamble to the conversation that should have taken place years ago before this disastrous plan got this far. A NO vote makes possible a realistic conversation as to the best educational and fiscal solutions for Tisbury and the Island.
The Island needs to start to plan for a Middle School. Voting YES precludes this needed planning for at least 50 years. An Island-wide Middle School solves a number of the fiscal problems, and is also appropriate to the outlook of junior high students. Don't you remember when you were in seventh and eighth grades, how much you wanted to grow up and be a real teenager? When I attended the Tisbury School in junior high, it was exciting finally to be near the "grown-up" kids. Some talented junior high athletes already play on junior varsity teams.
Say NO now, and then really plan ahead fiscally and pedagogically.
Why build a new school? To
Jack A. West TisburyWhy build a new school? To improve the educational experience so that your children so that they can be competitive, get good jobs, and do well in their lives. Island wide, there needs to be a serious discussion of how schools should be configured to get the best education. A common island wide middle school for grades 6-8 would allow students to be tracked to fulfill everyone's potential. It is next to impossible for all of our small middle schools to offer all of the levels and difficulties of classes in the science, technology and math areas (STEM). Students who need a little extra help could more easily get it if the schools weren't all so small. By moving the grades 6 to 8 across the island to a new facility paid for by the entire island, suddenly all of the elementary schools will have more space to prove the best K-5 education possible. Why does the island have six towns, six tax collectors, six chiefs of police, six fire captains, and 4 middle schools? Because of tradition, not because it is in the best interest of all of the voters and property owners. Voting yes will delay the inevitable regionalization of services across the island.
How long will it take for
Grace TisburyHow long will it take for these new taxes to be passed on to tenants, both residential and commercial?
Can your children afford to live here?
How long until the second home owners petition the Selectmen for tax relief? Will we be saying goodbye to our 18% residential tax reduction?
Just say no.
What are the estimates of
WashAbhorred EdgartownWhat are the estimates of annual maintenance costs of the new building? In other states they run close to 10% of the cost of the building. That should really be part of the information.
The number of school age
Tisbury Property Owner TisburyThe number of school age children will decrease almost every year for the next 40 years. The number of available new building lots is minimal, and the prices are so high, very few young families will be moving into Tisbury. This is not the time to expand in which all the taxpayers must bear the burden for the next 40 years. Even if you have children, after a few years they have left the grade school, and you are now left with a tax burden.
I am so relieved to see so
Anna Edey Vineyard havenI am so relieved to see so much well expressed opposition to the current new school proposal. I am especially grateful to Tristan’s eloquent and wise statement (dear Friends: please re-read it thoroughly), and to Kate Scott’s research which showed several communities (like Brookline) who chose to restore and improve their solid old schools (same age and style as ours) and costing considerably less than a new school. State grants are indeed available for renovation, not just for new construction. And regulations and codes are a lot less onerous for renovation than they are for new construction. Here I will describe just one of the many reasons why we must vote NO to stop the enormous harm that would result from the current school proposal: the staggeringly immense amount of CO2 pollution it would emit into our atmosphere. At the recent public meeting and tour of our school, we were told that the new school would require roughly the same amount of fossil fuels for heating/cooling as the current school. For the first 92 days of 2018, from early January to early April, this school burned 12,700 gallons #2 fuel oil. That comes to an average of 138 gallons per day. Burning one gallon of fuel oil causes 25 pounds of CO2 pollution. Thus this new school would emit some 3450 pounds of CO2 pollution per day into our atmosphere, on average. That's 1.7 tons of CO2 pollution for just the heating oil, every day. And when you add in all the energy that will be required for electricity, the amount is doubled, to more than 3 tons CO2 pollution per day. With today's knowledge of how CO2 and other warming gases are wreaking havoc with our climate, and will result in catastrophic sea-level rise that within one or two generations will make it impossibly expensive to live on the Vineyard or along the coast anywhere (think new ferry terminals on higher ground, raising Beach Road several feet higher, horrific coastal erosion and loss of beaches all around the island - all this is an absolutely certainty if we continue emitting CO2. We may be able to reduce the severity of these effects, IF we drastically reduce the amount of fossil fuels we burn and the CO2 we emit. Let's for God's sake reduce our CO2 pollution to near zero, for the sake of our children and grandchildren, and theirs. Let's give them a chance to enjoy the Vineyard as we do now. Let's do what we can to avoid burdening them with higher cost of living and reduced quality of life. And let it begin with our elementary school! Let's get back to the drawing board - let's get a real estimate for repairing and improving the existing school and adding a wonderful new addition (I bet it will cost a whole lot less than the $32,000,000 that the town seems willing to pay for the current new design,). And of course, adding proven solar-green-clean technologies that can reduce the use of fossil fuels and the CO2 pollution to near-zero, and also greatly reduce the annual cost of operations! And, contrary to the claims of the current architects and project managers, this can all be done in ways that save money and are much safer and more reliable and secure than fossil fuels. So whoever cares about the future wellbeing of our children, and theirs, please vote NO on Tuesday. They will be grateful that you did. And if you do vote yes, then they will have every reason to be furious at you for condemning them to higher cost of living, violent weather and rising sea levels destroying their beloved island home. Get informed, and then vote for what you feel is best for our kids.
The disparity between town
Interested Observer Other Town MVThe disparity between town meeting votes and ballot wins tells me a lot about the political environment in a town. When you get a lopsided win for spending at town meeting, but then get defeated in the privacy of the voting booth, it says a lot. In a town where regular folk without influence feel heard and safe from repucussions in their own lives, the results should be close. In a town where regular folks feel they can't afford to be heard with names attached, they revolt in the booth. Edgartown Katama hanger is a relatively unimportant example of a vote that showed a timid majority. Good leaders should mourn such events and correct them with open communal humility. Tisbury voters will show confidence in their entrenched leaders with a yes vote, and send a valuable message if they say no. It isn't the best system, but it is a nice gut check.
VH has been a bastion of
Voter for school supporters VHVH has been a bastion of backwards thinking for a long time now. Following some of the logic we are seeing perhaps we should allow the school to crumble to dust. Then the value of homes could become nil, which would result in really low property taxes. Granted you'd still have a large town budget you'd have to pay for with a lower tax base, but hey, no problem, right? Tisbury, (like all island towns) has a low tax rate compared to the rest of the state. Local taxes have virtually nothing to do with what makes it hard to live here. One of the great rewards of struggling to live here is good schools. Or at least it was when most of us were growing up here. Deciding good schools are too expensive is just wrong. If you think that's the case then look at what's happening in places like Oklahoma, and Kentucky and Arizona, where teachers are walking out. Not necessarily the best places to live.
Actually, the logic we are
Islander TooActually, the logic we are seeing is that we should properly maintain what we have/own.
It is the School Committee and Administration that have neglected the school shamefully.
But despite years of neglect, the building is inpretty good shape---very far from "crumbling to dust."
A sign of the original quality of the building.
I applaud the conservation/renovation of (almost) any historic structure,
including the Katama Hangar.
But it is beyond ludicrous that Gazette editorial writers think the
Katama Hangar has greater historical and architectural value than the Tisbury School.
How did trying to preserve
Voter for school supporters VHHow did trying to preserve the old Edgartown School work out for them? It sat vacant for years because there wasn't a use for it. The Tisbury School was absolutely taken care of, as evidenced by the fact it outlasted the old Oak Bluffs school and the old Edgartown School. The old Edgartown Library also was built in 1904 and simply could not continue as a public library. How long do you think a public school should last? 175 years? The town is going to lose the state money and will end up with an ancient substandard school if they go down the renovation path. And in the process the students will be disrupted for years. You need to build new about once a century. Model T Fords were driving around brand new when the Tisbury School was built. They aren't around any more. You can't just fix things up forever.
I’ll be voting yes for our
Yes on school VHI’ll be voting yes for our future. As a year rounder of the next generation — one who was not gifted land or bought cheap and one who works full time but still doesn’t have much to spare at the end of the month — I vote yes.
Schools are the best thing this island has to offer outside a nice sense of community and beautiful scenery.
I know my child will be out of there in a few years, but I’ll still be happy to pay for a building that provides the design and function best suited to 21st century educational needs. Yes,
Tisbury test scores are already great, but that is only half the picture iin today’s world.
I heard a lot of talk about people wanting a shiny new building, but I hear much more talk about making an old building pretty again. In most scenarios I agree, but in this case pretty on the outside does not help the job going on inside.
It’s a yes vote in my book.
This discussion should have
ML TisburyThis discussion should have happened in the two years since the 2016 town meeting voted to spend $825,000.00 on studying our options. Once the state agreed to fund a percentage of the REIMBURSABLE costs (do you know that the state is not basing the reimbursement on the entire cost?) the committee was eager to grab the "free money" (your and my state taxes) which totals $13 million, and only pays the interest on the loan. We pay $47 million. The committee turned a deaf ear to the community's concerns and did not do a cost comparison. They just took the architect's word for it that a new school would be less costly than a renovation with an addition. Shortly (one week) after the Manter well site was rejected (it is a protected site, source of our drinking water,) the committee rushed to vote for a new school on the existing site. The process was slanted toward a new school throughout. Even worse than that is the deliberate neglect over the last few years of our classic, solid school. It is not and should not be seen as a benefit to education to build a new school. Please do not be intimidated. Have the courage to vote NO.
Many of our neighbours are
Christine VHMany of our neighbours are retired, they bought their homes years ago for modest prices mostly under 300k and now they are assessed at over 1 million, and so the taxes are what will push them out of their retirement because they didn't over spend, the building committee for this new school did! We cannot afford it!
$46 million is a crazy amount
Ted VH$46 million is a crazy amount of money for a small town to spend.
I think this should be voted down and look at other options.
46 million really means $70 million
Just ask other towns like Newton, Ma
I am a tax paying homeowner
J.P. St.Germain Vineyard HavenI am a tax paying homeowner who is not entitled to vote. As I see it - the recent federal tax changes has bumped the effective real estate taxes by 30% for many in our community, and now this effort is going to the same money well that Trump just drank from. At what point will we run out of other people's money?
Some math. In 2010 my taxes were $9,051. In 2018 they were $17,697. The federal tax changes essentially add another $5,300 to my taxes.
J.P.
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