I would think that eventually they need to replace those buildings. What is the plan for that? Would they build 4 new buildings or combine them into two larger buildings?

Good point, what would be most cost effective? It seems that two buildings large enough to hose K-4 students would make sense. How may overide votes or debt exemptions can the town afford?

i moved here, because i liked the neighborhood school feel...so close to our elemantary we could walk...

Keep the largest property, sell off the other three and put that profit towards one new school to house all the elementary children. Get on the mass school building list and look for the state reimbursement.
Then lets get a the center firestation taken care of as well.

On Rt. 38? do you know long it takes me sometimes to get to the 1/2 way point of town? The lights at 38 and Shawsheen are a nightmare!

I think having one large elementary school makes the most sense. Having centralized resources, busing, and children. The children already go to one school for the rest of the grades so why not start at the elementary level. Seems like the way to go.

I think they should keep Heath Brook and North Street and expand them (add an additional story or two) and sell the Trahan and Dewing since they are located on "main" roadways - their property should be worth more.

As for the central fire station, i would like to see it paired up with the police station somehow.

I can't see utilizing the Dewing for just Kindergarten. It's a very large school. How many Kindergarteners does the town have in any given year?

Thank you to the building study group for this report. I hope this is presented to voters at our annual town meeting.

That said, I agree with the option recommended in the report to build a new school in South Tewksbury for Heath Brook/Trahan kids, and to rehab the North Street or Dewing for the North Side. Hopefully we can find a matching fund though the state (like we did with the high school) and make it happen.

My reasoning is simple - there are currently almost 400 kids at the Heath Brook, and 300 at the Trahan. That's 700 kids. Add that to the 650 at Dewing and 300 at North Street, and now we're talking 1500+ kids ages 5-9 in one school. That's an AWFUL lot of kids in one place. It won't change the cost of buses or running the school. Same # of kids means same # of buses needed and buses having to go further (therefore balancing out any savings).

All those same kids go to 1 school starting in 5th grade upwards. I think it would be beneficial and would save on resources, 1 library, 1 gym, if they started in 1 school to begin with.

Not to mention 1 big parent group with town wide fundraising rather than all the elementary schools competing against each other.

This is great for young families but what about the senior citizens of this town that will be crushes by taxes who never had kids in these schools but lived in
town forever.

Erin, It is part of the cost of living in a community. Same reason we paid for a Sr. Center many of us will never use. I do believe this needs to be delayed until some of the other town debt is paid and off the books. I think the sewer project was a huge mistake that will make this real need wait.

I really hope that the committee comes up with the most cost effective way to deal with this. We are already in the process of paying for a new high school and now we need to build new elementary schools. I am tired of hearing of how poor prior management led to this - and I'm sick of paying for the last "good old boys network" mistakes. Tewksbury has had to be one of the most poorly managed towns in the State. I sincerely hope the current management does a much better job. With all the controversy we've had over mismanagement of funds in sports and now the recreation center, it makes it hard to trust what anyone's doing in this town.

We should keep all four elementary schools and focus on maintenance. It seems every town is continuing to follow our throw away society by not maintaining public buildings and just tearing them down and replacing them once neglect starts to catch up. We need to practice what we preach as far as "being green" goes. Having all of the elementary schools is an asset to the town for property values, attracting new residents and protecting our children. Young children should be able to go to elementary schools close to their home. It worked in the past, why can't it work in the future. A new school does not mean no more maintenance. Once we sell off properties there is never any going back. Lets make a priority list of what needs to be done in order of importance and work at fixing the buildings over time and lets hire a full time maintenance crew for all our schools. Even our new high school needs to be maintained. Lets not follow the throw away society and let's teach our children how we are suppose to take care of our buildings for future generations. Let's keep our property values intact and let our young children go to neighborhood elementary schools. It's good for everyone!

My house is over 50 years old as are most of the homes in Tewksbury. Should we tear them all down and build new ones? What a complete joke. We have known for some time now the condition of these schools. How much money have we set aside for the repairs or let say a down payment for new schools. Why do we tolerate such poor oversight. Imagine going into a bank and telling them that I have no money saved but I want to tear down my house and build a new one. You would have to explain to them that I have totally neglected keeping the property up. Then We would have to inform them that first we need money up front to study possible designs. We would also have to let them know that our budget is already very tight. Do you see what I am trying to get at? Come on enough is enough!!

I agree, my house is over 50 years old as well, and my children never went to the school system, but we are contributing to all of these expenses. We have adult children moving back home with parents with their children and the schools are overloaded. These people are not even paying taxes; we have 50+ living with people that are moving from other cities and we pay to build that large senior center. We need to start taking a more conservative approach to things; I for one cannot continue living in this town and the water expenses along with all of these tax increases just isn't worth it.

After just having been notified that my mortage payment will go up an additional $125.00 per month due to Tax and Insurance increase, there needs to be some accountability for spending. Obviously the previous administration caused the majority of issues in this town. Mr Montouri has done his best to prop up the town in a time of financial stress. However, there needs to be a balance, i agree with the others we just can't say "It's old so tear it down and build a new one" Serious consideration needs to go in to a retrofit for the current buildings, much like what is considered with the town hall project. We don't have 10's of millions for another school. Pay off some of the outstanding debt and right the reserves before we have a HUGE issue!!

Tewksbury $146 Million in debt.....currently paying $4-5 million annually just in interest payments. Sound familiar? Except on the national stage it's in trillions of dollars, not millions. That's not taking into consideration the grossly underfunded town Pension fund situation. It is simply unsustainable folks. The townspeople were told by our School Committe the $15 fee they recently voted in unanimously, upon each child participating in indoor rec sports, would go towards maintaining and or improving our school gyms and facilities. I believe that goes into effect 1/1/13. Curious if any one knows if the School Committee has set up a separate budget/fund for this yet? If so, I look forward to the newly waxed gym floors and improved maintenance we were told it would go towards. Or is this going to be just another $15 of your hard earned money dissapearing into thin air as most taxes and fees tend to do? I hope not. BTW.....our friends next door in Wilmington $0 long term debt. And here we are talking about new turf fields on top of it? Reckless with a capital R.

Wow! So many mixed emotion on one thread. I moved here in 08 with the hopes that my children will thrive in this pretty town. The town is geographically pretty but the contents are awful. Our children don't have libraries in the school because of budget cuts, they have art and music once a week. I voted for the high school knowing fully my children will be educated privately for High school, we won't use it but it is for the good of the community. I would like to see the seniors take a step back and appreciate how a new school has added value to their propertyy so if they choose to sell it will only help them. Then the young family in town should appreciate the seniors for their votes on the new school. We are in a mess, no doubt but creating new schools will just add to confusion and delay. I would not feel comfortable seeing my 5 year old in a school with10-11 year olds. I think if our current schools can be rehabbed and given a greener approach it may save money in the long run. Why sell the buildings so another ugly building can go up in our pretty town!