Such changes would occur only after public hearings. Members were responding, in part, to the fact that the music room in the just-renovated Bishop School is being used as a regular classroom as 375 students crowd into the building. Information about school-reimbursement rules and enrollments came as William Shea, former chair of the Permanent Town Building Committee, sought guidance as to the sizes of the Thompson and Stratton schools. He also said cost projections for the last four schools are higher than expected. Donovan brought word of the rule changes from the Department of Education's School Building Assistance Bureau, and at first it sounded like bad news about future costs.
New rules change that.
Peirce and Dallin schools remain under the 63 percent, but the last two schools don't. The new reimbursement percentage the state has assigned Arlington is 55.21 percent. Under the new rules, the town could try to get 63 percent reimbursement for Thompson and Stratton, but it would require a vote of Town Meeting before this Dec. 31. No Special Town Meeting is expected this fall, according to Town Counsel John Maher. He told the Finance Committee Sept. 18 that talks about cleaning up contamination at Peirce Field continue with no Town Meeting on the calendar.