Plan Development

In June 2018, the full Board of Education voted unanimously to adopt the 10 Year $100 million Capital Maintenance Plan, a plan that would maintain all of our current facilities over the next decade but would not include any new construction or significant improvements. 

Board members and members of the public began to question if there was a better plan out there other than the 10 Year $100 million maintenance plan. Members of the BOE, Board of Selectmen, and Board of Finance came together to form the Tri Board School Facilities Working Group. 

The group held meetings, public forums, and met with other town organizations and realtors over a period of months. The group ultimately considered more than 50 options for the school facilities. In April 2019 the group presented viable options for the town to consider beyond the BOE adopted 10 Year $100 Million Capital Maintenance Plan.   

The options included three, four, and five-school models. The committee agreed that any options must be fiscally reasonable, accommodate long-term enrollment trends, and provide for modern learning environments. The tri board determined a 4-school model best fit these requirements.  

In fall 2019, the BOE voted unanimously to adopt a long-term plan for the renewal of our school facilities. The board selected a 4-school model that includes:  

• New construction of a PreK-5 elementary school on the Green Hill Campus
• Improvements to Brown Intermediate School to transition to a K-5 school
• Maintaining Polson as a 6-8 school and DHHS as 9-12
• Renovations at Polson including: new Air Quality Systems/HVAC,  auditorium modernization, and security enhancements

The plan would result in the closure of both existing K-3 elementary school buildings as well as the Town Campus Learning Center Preschool (TCLC). 

The project was slated to go to referendum in the spring or fall of 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.