TURNERS FALLS — A building committee to oversee the expansion and renovation of Sheffield Elementary School is recommending that the Montague Selectboard place an article on the fall Special Town Meeting warrant to fund a feasibility study as required by the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA).
The 11-member Sheffield and Hillcrest Elementary School Building Committee met for the first time last week. The building committee will oversee the project as it makes its way through the MSBA’s eligibility period.
The committee is made up of a mix of town and school district officials, as well as Montague residents with ties to the school. Former Gill-Montague Regional School District School Committee member and former Montague Town Administrator Steve Ellis was appointed as chair, while Gill-Montague Director of Business and Operations Joanne Blier was appointed vice chair.
Town Administrator Walter Ramsey, who also sits on the committee, explained there are two phases of the process that draw the committee’s early focus: finishing requirements with the eligibility phase and preparing for the feasibility phase that starts in early 2027.
Of the requirements in this ongoing eligibility phase, getting funding approval at Town Meeting to conduct a feasibility study that will assess options for the expanded school is the “big one” before the MSBA can invite the project into the feasibility phase.
“We have to do that by January,” Ramsey said. “That’s our big charge for this phase.”
With this deadline in mind, Ramsey explained a Special Town Meeting planned for October is when this article would come before voters for consideration.
The project looks to expand and renovate Sheffield Elementary School at 43 Crocker Ave. The building serves students in second through fifth grades, and by renovating and expanding, the goal is to bring students from Hillcrest Elementary School at 30 Griswold St., which serves students from preschool to first grade, under one roof.
The smaller of the two schools, Hillcrest, was first built in the 1950s, and is a single-story, L-shaped building. The main Sheffield Elementary building was rebuilt in 1988 after a fire destroyed the building, but spared the attached auditorium and gymnasium. An administrative building was constructed in 1925.
The statement of interest submitted to the MSBA for renovation and expansion of Sheffield Elementary in April 2025 states that the three priorities for consolidating the two Montague elementary schools are to alleviate classroom overcrowding; install modernized facility features like roofs, windows and energy systems; and add to the Sheffield building to allow for a full range of educational programs.
The Gill-Montague School Committee approved an additional statement of interest for Hillcrest Elementary to be sent to the MSBA. This explains that because of the plan to bring Hillcrest students to the new Sheffield Elementary building, along with the building’s infrastructure needs and “structural shortcomings that compromise the safety and quality of the learning environment,” Hillcrest would be closed, with a tentative date of 2029.
The project budget came up after Ellis asked what funding source the town could use to pay for a feasibility study. Ramsey explained that the Sheffield and Hillcrest Elementary School Building Committee is tasked with setting the budget, and based on MSBA data for similar, recent elementary school building projects in 2023 and 2024, a $1.5 million to $2 million range is estimated for the study. Ramsey said the town has funding available in the Capital Stabilization budget, as well as in the Gill-Montague Capital Stabilization budget.
Ramsey clarified that there is a reimbursement element from the MSBA for these projects, meaning the town may only need to pay for a portion of the feasibility study, with a reimbursement that Blier said could be between 75% and 80% of the full cost.
Ramsey said he’d like to set the budget for the feasibility study at $2 million. Ellis asked if it might be possible to home in on a “sharper” number.
“I don’t have a problem with $2 million, but if $2 million was what got it done two years ago? I worry about that,” Ellis said, with Ramsey agreeing to cross-check that figure with other sources.
The language for the Special Town Meeting article was not decided during the initial meeting, but the committee voted unanimously to recommend that the Selectboard place an article on the fall warrant to fund the feasibility study, with the final figure to be settled through consultation between Ramsey, the school district and the MSBA.
