Board and facilities staff outline phased plan and costs to repurpose campuses amid talk of closing McDowell

District facilities staff and the superintendent told the board they have been studying building conditions and operational costs and presented a phased plan that could shutter one older site (McDowell) and redistribute students across existing campuses.

Facilities lead Mr. Flynn said bringing an older building up to modern standards would be expensive: "We're looking at anywhere between, you know, 4 and $5,000,000 for that building alone," he said, and added a faster conversion timeline could cost roughly between "$2 and a half to 3,000,000 dollars" to accomplish within a year. Staff showed a site‑by‑site cost breakdown, identified utilities and field maintenance as drivers of middle‑school expenses, and suggested potential alternatives (reuse of newer district buildings and leasing or town partnerships for surplus land).

Administrators sketched a multi‑year sequence: year 1 planning and architectural design; year 2 construction and campus retrofits (bathroom and fixture retrofits for younger students, gym and locker‑room work, security upgrades, and technology updates for vacated classrooms); and year 3 matriculation and final closure of the shuttered building. Trustees repeatedly emphasized the need for extensive community engagement and cautioned against rushing implementation at the expense of classroom needs or student services.

Several board members questioned the balance between facilities costs and classroom investments—asking whether money saved on operating multiple buildings might better fund teacher pay—and urged community involvement in planning. Administration said the district owns most of the parcels needed but will verify leasehold portions and publicly share more detailed cost documents.

No closure decision was made at the meeting; the discussion produced a proposed timeline and instructed staff to continue planning with community input before any binding action.