The West Elementary School building project remains on schedule and is back on budget,
“It’s certainly a challenge building a school during a pandemic, and during high inflation,” West El Building Committee Chair Joel Blumstein told the school committee at its meeting Thursday. “Costs have been up nationwide, but I think we’re going to make it work.”
Blumstein said the project had to make some budget adjustments after a previous report had the project at $5 million over its $151.7 million budget. The project is now back on budget and remains on schedule, Blumstein said. Site prep began during April vacation, and construction on the building is scheduled to begin Aug. 19, according to the project timeline.
While the new school is not scheduled to open until the 2024-25 school year, the pace of work has picked up this month to prepare for the reopening of the existing school on Aug. 29. West Elementary School parents are being encouraged to have their kids to take the bus this year, and expect some drop off and pick-up delays for the first few days of school to adjust to the new traffic flow around the new school construction site.
Parents who choose to drop off and pick up their kids will enter the school grounds from Beacon Street. They will exit onto High Plain Road after dropping off their students. Previously, parents enetred and exited on Beacon Street after making a loop around the school.