BOSTON, MA – Today State Treasurer Tim Cahill, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts School Building Authority (“MSBA”), helped break ground for the new Parker Elementary School in Billerica which will be built on the same site as the existing school.
The new 90,600 square foot facility will serve 500 students from kindergarten to fifth grade. 100 students are expected to be redistricted to Parker Elementary School to alleviate overcrowding at the Dutile and Vinings schools. The total budget for the project is $34,007,436 with the MSBA funding 55.69% of eligible costs or up to $17.5 million. The school is expected to open in September 2012.
“I am pleased to be here to participate in this groundbreaking,” said Treasurer Cahill. “We found the most cost effective way to solve the educational and structural problems at the Parker School and the new school that will go up in its place will be a safe and sustainable facility for students and teachers.”
“Although ground is being broken today, the MSBA has already started paying for its share of the new Parker Elementary School,” stated Katherine Craven, Executive Director of the MSBA. “Our payments total nearly $1.5 million to date.”
The MSBA strives to find the right-sized, most fiscally responsible and educationally appropriate solutions to create safe and sound learning environments. The MSBA is committed to protecting the taxpayer’s dollar by improving the school building grant process and avoiding the mistakes of the past in the funding and construction of school facilities.
The MSBA has reformed the Commonwealth’s formerly rampant and unsustainable program, which had accumulated $11 billion in debt. In 2007, as a result of programmatic reforms and sound fiscal management, the MSBA was able to reopen a sustainable, reformed grant program. In its six year history, the MSBA has made nearly $7.3 billion in reimbursements to cities, towns and regional school districts for school construction projects. These timely payments have saved municipalities over $2.9 billion in avoided local interest costs and have provided much needed cash flow to communities in these difficult economic times.