WORCESTER – City Manager Ed Augustus will request approval from the City Council on Tuesday to submit a Statement of Interest to the Massachusetts School Building Authority for complete renovation or replacement of Burncoat High School.
Earlier this month, the school committee unanimously approved district administration to resubmit the SOI and refer to the City Council for approval.
In February, the MSBA denied the Burncoat project an invitation into its current eligibility period.
In a communication to the City Council, Augustus said the MSBA’s inclusion of Burncoat Senior High School would likely have to include Burncoat Middle School as the schools share the same property and are “integrated facilities.”
Augustus said the conservative estimate to replace the schools would be around $500 million and the City of Worcester would be expected to cover at least 50% of the cost. Borrowing roughly $250 million would result in an annual debt payment of about $14 million per year.
With interest, the project would likely cost the city around $370 million, according to Augustus.
“As we review upcoming fixed cost obligations, we do not see any way of paying for such an additional burden on the budget without tapping into the City’s unused tax levy capacity – currently about $20 million – or identifying ways to reduce city services and costs,” Augustus wrote in his memo to the City Council.
In FY21, the city paid nearly $17 million in annual debt services on school-based projects, which didn’t include the cost of the new South High Community School or new Doherty Memorial High School.
“As we consider additional school replacement projects, we must be clear-eyed and strategic about how we absorb and manage the costs involved,” Augustus wrote.
If the City were to go through with replacing Burncoat, it would be Worcester’s fifth high school replacement project in the past 25 years.
