• City of Framingham
    Fuller Middle School Feasibility Study
    Community Forum No. 2
    Questions and Answers

    1. What is included in the MSBA reimbursement grant?
    The MSBA will provide Framingham a grant of up to 57.05% of eligible costs plus incentives for building
    construction costs, site work, playfields, and demolition of the existing school. They will also provide
    reimbursement for furniture and educational technology equipment, building fees, testing costs and
    construction contingencies.

    2. Does the MSBA reimbursement grant include the cost for temporary swing space during construction?
    The MSBA does not provide reimbursement for the cost of temporary swing space during construction.

    3. Is the cost for an Auditorium included in the MSBA reimbursement grant?
    The MSBA does not provide reimbursement for costs of an Auditorium, including stage, dressing rooms
    and support spaces for middle schools.

    4. Is there anything buried below ground under the existing Fuller school?
    A geo-environmental investigation has been performed on the site and there is no indication that there is
    anything buried under the existing Fuller school.

    5. If the swing space is located in the Farley Building, how will the middle school students be
    separated from the college students?
    There will be separate entrances for the middle school and college students and a solid partition will divide
    the middle school from the MassBay area. A new elevator and stairway will be constructed in the MassBay
    area to maintain the separation.

    6. When will we see the costs for each of the options?
    Preliminary cost estimates will be presented to the School Building Committee at their next meeting in early
    December.

    7. Will the project have solar photovoltaic panels?
    The project will be designed to be solar photovoltaic panel-ready. The MSBA will provide reimbursement
    for the costs to make a project solar ready, which represents a comparatively minor up-front cost. The
    MSBA does not provide reimbursement for providing and installing the solar photovoltaic panels.

    8. Will McCarthy Elementary School be impacted during construction?
    The Fuller school construction will have minimal to no impact on the McCarthy school. All construction vehicles will be controlled so that no construction vehicles will be allowed to access or leave the construction site during morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up times.

    9. How was the 630 student design enrollment arrived at?
    The school administration retains a professional demographer, New England School Development Council, NESDEC, to perform enrollment projections every year. The projections look back 20 years and project forward 10 years. The MSBA originally projected 580 students for the Fuller school. The school administration and NESDEC reviewed the projections for all three middle schools and calculated that a 630 student design enrollment was required for the Fuller school and the MSBA agreed.

    10. What will happen if more than 630 students enroll at the Fuller School?
    The school administration class size policy provides for an average class range of 23-24 students with a buffer of plus or minus 3 students. If a greater amount of students enroll at the Fuller school than 630 students, there is a built in buffer to accommodate them.

    11. Will the feeder schools for the Fuller school change?
    The school administration has reviewed the feeder school policy and does not envision any changes.