WORCESTER – A day after the current Burncoat High School had to close to students and staff due to a heating issue, the Massachusetts School Building Authority Board of Directors voted unanimously to invite a proposal for a new Burncoat High School into its eligibility period.
The eligibility period allows the MSBA “to manage its financial resources by identifying early in the process whether a district is ready to manage and fund a capital project,” according to its website. The MSBA is a state agency that helps fund the construction of public schools.
During the 270-day eligibility period that kicks off July 1, 2024, Worcester Public Schools will have to complete preliminary requirements including forming a school building committee, completing an educational profile questionnaire, and providing the MSBA with a summary of the district’s existing maintenance practices, confirmation of community authorization and funding to proceed, and a feasibility study agreement, along with other requirements.
After that process, the Board of Directors must vote on whether to invite Worcester Public Schools to conduct a feasibility study for the project.
The entire design and construction process for the project is expected to take five to seven years, according to a press statement from WPS.
Burncoat High School opened in 1964 and has a current enrollment of 1,106 students, according to MSBA data.
The city has been working to get a new Burncoat High School since 2008, bringing it before the MSBA 13 times, according to the WPS press statement. The district made a new Burncoat High its top priority in the last seven attempts.
During the MSBA board meeting Wednesday, Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty and Rep. Jim O’Day of the 14th Worcester District represented the project.
Both men thanked the MSBA for its contributions to Worcester school projects over the past ten years.
Petty said the MSBA has helped him transform the city with its investments in South High School, Doherty High School, and accelerated repair projects in other schools.
“When we have new schools like what we’ve had here,” O’Day said, “there are students in other schools that, regrettably, those schools are falling upon disrepair and as they take a drive through a number of neighborhoods and they see these brand new schools being erected here in the city and they have to return to their schools.” O’Day then mentioned the malfunctioning heating system Burncoat experienced the day before.
As a result, O’Day said he is incredibly grateful and excited to have a proposal for a new Burncoat High School to be considered for the eligibility period.
“A new Burncoat High School is greatly needed to ensure a high-quality experience for our students who deserve a top-notch facility,” Burncoat High School Principal Joseph Ewick said in a statement.
The city’s Public Facilities Department will oversee the project working in collaboration with Worcester Public Schools.
“Our scholars deserve a premiere educational facility that supports our exceptional performing arts, dual immersion and future-ready programming, and reflects the high value we place in them,” WPS Superintendent Rachel Monárrez said in a statement.
Kiernan Dunlop is an award-winning journalist who has spent the past five years reporting in Worcester, New Bedford, and Antigua and Barbuda. Her work has been published in Bloomberg, USA Today, Canary Media, MassLive, and the New Bedford Standard Times, among other outlets. She can be contacted at kdunlop@theworcesterguardian.org
