The presentation lasted just a tad over 59 minutes, the discussion that ensued afterwards and the vote was significantly less. It took Town Meeting under 10 seconds to debate and unanimously approve Warrant Article 7 last night which requested $2.2 million dollars for the Killam School feasibility study and schematic design.
Reading Public Schools Superintendent, Thomas Milaschewski, mentioned that this was the first step in the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) process and would show the authority that Reading was committed to the process and serious with a “Yes” vote tonight. It’s clear from that brief 10 seconds, that Reading far surpassed that.
Preparation was the main factor in why there was no discussion on why Reading needed a new Killam School. There were numerous meetings, public forums, walk-troughs and a committee that kept the community informed every step of the way. Now Reading moves on to Module 2 in the MSBA process, which is forming the Project Team and then completing the feasibility study. The entire process is estimated to take under 3.5 years to completion, starting from the June 2022 date.
