By Mike Stucka
Staff Writer
May 13, 2009 09:18 am MIDDLETON — Residents overwhelmingly pushed a new school, easily clearing Town Meeting's toughest challenge. With parents and other residents standing four people deep at the back of a packed auditorium, the Town Meeting vote was nearly 5-to-1 in favor. The 663 yes votes and 118 no votes came from one of the strongest turnouts in years. Last night's vote was a critical step in the construction of a $31.5 million school, with the state covering about half of the cost. Last night's vote clears the way for Town Election on Monday, when a simple majority is needed to replace Howe-Manning Elementary School. People waited in the back of North Shore Technical High School's auditorium for a chance to cast their vote. Some were outside the school until nearly 9 p.m., almost an hour and a half after Town Meeting's scheduled start, waiting in line to get in. Nathan Bradstreet, a fifth-grade student at Howe-Manning Elementary School, said students needed a better place to learn, one that wasn't too hot or too cold for students to concentrate well. "If you vote for a new school, pat yourself on the back because you will make the students very grateful," he said to standing applause. Jeff Applestein, a member of the Middleton School Building Committee, asked residents to think about what level of education they would support. Students still learn in the town's two elementary schools, though they're at 160 percent of capacity, he said. Teachers don't have real desks but can still teach. "Areas that were designed in the '50s and '30s for mops and brooms to be stored are now educational spaces," he said. The current Howe-Manning was built during the Great Depression and was last expanded more than 50 years ago. The new school would be built behind the existing building, which would then be torn down. Middleton voters would pay up to $16 million for the school, while the Massachusetts School Building Authority would pay up to $15.5 million. Middleton's Town Meetings shot down two earlier proposals for new schools. A state official said the Massachusetts School Building Authority agrees the school is needed. Andrew Cherullo, the agency's chief financial officer, said, "We've come to agreement on the size, the enrollment. The current Howe-Manning is substandard." He encouraged residents to use the state money, getting rare chuckles in a sometimes tense meeting: "That money is on the table for you. We're good for that." Resident Dan Leary said questioned whether town officials had properly figured in costs for the new school and wondered why the old school couldn't be turned into an old-age home or a public safety building. He also wanted to know whether the old building's fallout shelter would be replaced. Most of all, Leary wanted to know how residents were supposed to pay for the school when some of his neighbors can't even pay to keep their electricity on. "I work three jobs to try to support my family in this town," he said. Another resident working three jobs offered to collect cans from the side of the road to help needy people pay their taxes. A Master Planning Committee member said the school was needed and the town could start a food pantry to help the neediest residents.
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