A Release to the Stoneham Community From members of the School Building Committee:

Your Stoneham School Building Committee is excited to share that Stoneham will, with your help, take the next step toward providing a first class learning space for our high school students at the May 6, 2019 Annual Town Meeting, when residents will vote on Article #6, a vote to appropriate funds for a feasibility study as the next step in the Massachusetts School Building Authority's (MSBA) process. As you may know, Stoneham High School was approved to move forward in the MSBA process last fall and the Stoneham School Building Committee, a group of twenty individuals, was recruited and commissioned to begin its work. On Monday night, May 6, voters will be asked to fund the feasibility study required by MSBA. You may also remember that several years ago, a feasibility study was commissioned for the high school and you may wonder why it needs to be done again. The MSBA requires that a feasibility study be completed based on specific information which MSBA requires, including Phase 1 environmental, traffic and site studies. These studies are in addition to the initial feasibility study which led to the MSBA's agreement to fund a potential new/renovated school; and, because this study is a requirement, the MSBA reimburses the town approximately 50% of the cost.

Why does Stoneham need a new high school? In short, the Stoneham School Committee, staff, students, parents and professionals at Stoneham High School have identified a number of challenges that the current building presents every day, such as: - The New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) has placed Stoneham High School on Warning for Accreditation due to the building facility.

- The existing main building is over fifty years old with a small lab addition in 1981, and requires increasing capital for the school department to run and maintain the facilities and systems properly; - A growing Special Education Department program in which more of Stoneham's students with individual needs attend school in our town rather than being sent to out of town schools and where appropriate space for these students is limited;

- A growing youth population as new residential developments are on the horizon;

- A fire alarm system that functions, but is dated, and a lack of fire proofing or sprinkler systems;

- Arts/Humanities areas that are sorely lacking in space and structure, inhibiting students' abilities to perform at their best whether on stage or off. - Areas of the building that are somewhat isolated and unused and exterior doors with antiquated control systems; and,