School Cost, Bus Concerns Raised on Westborough Woods
Educating the children residing there would cost Westborough 'probably $1.5 to $2 million' annually, Levine-Kanji says.
A proposed 250-unit housing project on Route 9 near Otis Street would cost Westborough “probably $1.5 to $2 million additional cost per year to educate the kids,” school committee Chairman Ilyse Levine-Kanji says.
The Westborough Zoning Board of Appeals’ public hearing on 346 Turnpike Road LLC's request for a comprehensive permit resumes at 7:45 p.m. Feb. 11 in Forbes Municipal Building Room 24. The hearing opened on Jan. 14.
The 314,230-square-foot Westborough Woods project proposed for 346 Turnpike Road consists of 250 rental apartments, of which 62 would be affordable; a 6,234-square-foot clubhouse with outdoor swimming pool; and a 5,234-square-foot retail building, according to the Sept. 7 Certificate of the state Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs on the Environmental Notification Form.
Both the town and the school board have expressed concerns to the Massachusetts Housing Partnership.
Levine-Kanji told the school board last week that having members attend the Feb. 11 meeting would be worthwhile.
Westborough Woods would add about 120 students to the school district, “a 3 percent increase in our student population,” she said.
Vice Chairman Stephen Doret said that he understood the site was accessible only from Route 9 east, and “that makes it a requirement that a school bus travel on Route 9 west” to Route 20 and back.
Officials should seek “access from another street in Westborough so school buses won’t have to travel on Route 9,” Doret said.
School Superintendent Marianne O’Connor said children residing at Westborough Woods face “a longer bus ride than a typical student.”
Space isn’t available at the nearest neighborhood school, the Armstrong Elementary School, O’Connor said.
The Fales Elementary School would be the “most logical place” to educate the children, she said. However, they would “go all the way from the west end of Westborough to Fales,” she said.
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Armstrong Elementary School
18 Fisher St, Westborough, MA -
Fales Elementary School
50 Eli Whitney St, Westborough, MA
01581
7:28 am on Thursday, January 31, 2013
Does Westborough fall below the state mandated percentage of affordable housing? If not, then there should be no reason for a project of this scale. There seem to be plenty of housing options already built.
Mike
7:59 am on Thursday, January 31, 2013
There's no issue putting a housing project of this size in the adult entertainment district?
GG
8:03 am on Thursday, January 31, 2013
So would the families that pay property tax in town have priority when kindergarten exceeds capacity at Fales?
Parent
9:21 am on Thursday, January 31, 2013
GG, already, a significant portion of the student populations at Armstrong and Hastings are apartment dwellers. Every year when it comes time for the Kindergarten lottery, all students are treated equally, whether the family owns property in town or not.
Bubblicious
10:44 am on Thursday, January 31, 2013
This whole project doesn't make sense to me, especially since the Westborough Village housing development just went up by the MBTA station. Some of the units in the MBTA transit complex have 3 bedrooms, so the potential impact on the schools of that project alone is worrisome, let alone building another huge complex in the same neighborhood. Class sizes at all the schools are too big as it is - it's not uncommon to find 26-27 kids in a class at the elementary level. Does anyone know how the $1.5-$2M per year extra expense to educate the potential 120 students from the proposed complex was figured? Is that based on "average" students? If some of those kids need special services, the actual cost could be significantly higher.
BEH
11:49 am on Thursday, January 31, 2013
Westboro does not fall below the state mandate for affordable housing therefore this project doesn't make sense. The schools are clearly stretched, and despite the fact that Westboro has one of the highest tax rates in the state (14) the schools are not ranked as high as they used to be...increasing commercial real estate and gaining those tax dollars makes sense.