School proposal renews debate; Request for study to be heard next week.

Byline: Aaron Nicodemus

UXBRIDGE - School officials are preparing to re-launch the debate about building a new high school, a topic that will revive a controversy that has roiled the town for more than a decade.

School Superintendent Daniel J. Stefanilo and the school building subcommittee will present a proposal next week that seeks up to $500,000 to study the school system's space needs. The study is required by the Massachusetts School Building Authority, the agency that would determine whether the state would help fund a school construction project in town, and what percentage of the cost the state would cover.

The proposal will be presented to the School Committee at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Uxbridge High School library.

Mr. Stefanilo said the town and the state authority will work together to determine whether renovations to the high school, or building a new school, will best serve the town.

"The New England Association of Schools and Colleges has recommended that we build a new high school building, and I concur," he said. "This has been a very contentious issue that has very deep roots. The bottom line, though, is what's lost is the need, and the need hasn't gone away."

While the plans floated in the past have been for a new high school to serve 850 students, school Business Manager Donald R. Sawyer said more recent student enrollment projections will likely bring that number down to 600 to 650 students. But he could not comment on the cost of a smaller building, saying that determining the project's cost is one of the feasibility study's fundamental purposes.

School Committee member John E. Higgins, in a prepared release, said the study will examine all past plans for a new high school to determine what could still be used. The study will also examine student population trends, whether the high school can be renovated, the hiring of a project manager, and formulating a design selection panel with 12 members.

Uxbridge has a tortured history with regards to building a new high school. Three times in three years - in 2001, 2002 and 2003 - voters rejected ballot questions to fund new school construction. More recently, the town purchased land on south Quaker Highway (Route 146A) that, combined with other town-owned land, consists of 80 acres. The site is eyed as the home of a new Uxbridge High School.

Selectman and School Committee member Peter Baghdasarian, who opposed overrides in the past, said he still believes the town won't support one.

"It all depends on the cost. I would say the appetite for big debt exclusions and overrides is very limited," he said.

Former School Committee member Steven Berube said the town needs a new high school.

"It has to be done; there's never been a question about it," he said. "Nobody really knows what this thing is really going to cost this time. We had a high school several years ago for $28 million. What's it going to be now? $60 million?"

Harry Romasco, a former selectman who opposed all three overrides, said bringing the issue back to voters raises some serious questions in his mind, starting with a feasibility study that could cost $500,000.

"Where is this money supposed to come from?" he asked. "How will the taxpayers in Uxbridge fund this? I would like to see a plan that clearly articulates the cost, the tax impact and the need. I still need answers before I form an opinion this time."

ART: PHOTO

PHOTOG: T&G Staff/MARK C. IDE 

CUTLINE: Fierce debate has raged for years over renovating Uxbridge High School, or building a new one.