EL Votes New High School, Opens in 2027
By Katie Powell ’27
Newspaper Club
To quote one of the most famous lines of poetry, “The best laid plans of Mice and Men go often askew.” Thus was the fate for many of the previous senior classes of East Longmeadow High School, all of whom were promised a brand new High School by their senior year, and all of whom came to see those promises prove fruitless when their senior year arrived and they were still attending school in the 1960s era building.
From 2013 to 2018 alone, the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) frequently rejected East Longmeadow’s applications to join their School Building Rebuilding Program. However, sometimes both mice and men end up having their way.
In 2019, the MSBA accepted East Longmeadow’s request for funding to build a new high school, and on November 7th, 2023, the vote to build a new high school won by over 3,500 votes, and the vote to fund the new school’s natatorium won by 3,219 votes.
According to children’s librarian at the East Longmeadow Public Library, Christina Uss, who oversaw the voting and wished to provide some insight, the library saw one of the biggest voter turnouts on record, with nearly 40% of voters showing up to vote, as compared to the usual 10% to 13% of voters the library typically receives; obviously this was an issue which deeply resonated with lots of East Longmeadow residents.
To lots of East Longmeadow families, especially those who have children attending East Longmeadow Public Schools, the choice was obvious; vote yes so that their children could experience high school in a brand new, up to date building. However, other East Longmeadow residents felt that a no vote was more sensible, as it would keep them from paying the estimated $990-$1,040 tax increase which comes from the cost of the project that East Longmeadow residents are supposed to cover.
In the end though, the estimated tax increase proved a mere champagne problem in comparison to the current state of the deteriorating high school, and the yes vote won. The high school, built over sixty years ago, has not been deemed “vintage chic” as so many other things from the 1960s have. Instead, it has been deemed a possible health hazard with its undersized academic, technological, and special education spaces, its lack of current technology and size requirements in its science labs, and its failing electrical systems which have hit their maximum capacity. On the first day of the 2023-2024 school year, the high school lost power for over an hour due to its electrical system being outdated. The high school’s outdated HVAC systems do not meet current ventilation requirements and lack central air conditioning. The warranty on its deteriorating roof has expired. Asbestos tiling and outdated adhesives and insulation need to be abated. Windows and doors are performing well below current code requirements and result in a significant loss of energy and heat.
Because the MSBA would not fund repairs, tax-payers would’ve had to cover the entire cost of repairing all the issues with the building should the vote not have been in favor of rebuilding the high school. Other risks included a potential decrease in East Longmeadow property values, the loss of students to other schools, and losing NEASC accreditation for educational programming.
The MSBA has agreed to cover $83 million towards the new high school building project with East Longmeadow tax-payers covering the rest. If everything goes according to plan, construction should commence in the summer of 2024 and the high school will be ready to host students in the fall of 2026, with construction officially wrapping up in the summer of 2027. The Class of 2027 would be the first class to graduate from the new building. The proposed designs for the new high school building and its surrounding campus look more like a college than a high school, with an open floor plan, large windows for natural light, and an outdoor dining area for students.
