Schools receive $210k Christmas gift
Published on December 20th, 2000
STONEHAM ,MA - At the Dec. 14 Stoneham School Committee meeting the family and friends of the late Saul Weiss stood by his widow Donna as she presented the School Department with a $210,000 donation to revamp Stoneham High’s outdoor playing fields.
“Thank you from the bottom of my heart,” said School Committee Chairwoman Jeanne Craigie, concentrating to stay composed in the face of many memories. Craigie, Superintendent Joe Connelly and most old Stonehamites remember the Weiss Farm and family as part of their childhood.
Weiss was a member of the Class of 1967 who played varsity hockey and baseball, as a goalie and catcher. He kept his family’s 170 Franklin St. farm alive; it’s still there after so many things have changed.
Saul was well known around town for being a kind and generous person. Donna Weiss decided to remember her husband’s altruistic spirit with the largest private donation the School Department has ever received. Scholarships in Saul Weiss’s name are also being set up.
“This is a happy moment for his friends and me,” Donna said.
Athletic Director Mike Lahiff said that the funds will cover costs to construct top of the line fields: two softball fields for varsity and junior varsity on the low ground in front of the High School and a varsity practice football field and varsity field hockey field on the high ground past the tennis courts.
To put the nature of the Weiss family and this donation in perspective, citizens should remember that the Town of Stoneham took some of the Weiss property to build the High School.
The momentous nature of Donna’s Dec. 14 donation was reflected by the School Department’s decision to serve Dunkin Donuts coffee instead of the usual SHS blend. Everybody noticed.
And everybody will notice a memorial to Saul Weiss when it is placed as the crowning jewel atop the new ball fields.
“We all remember him. Now kids who never even knew him will remember,” Craigie said.
Building Project Budget
The School Department may need to ask the town for another $4.5 million to finish the ongoing elementary school building project. And unlike the first $39.8 million, it may not be partially reimbursed by the state.
This is not good, but it is not final either. Things could get better or worse.
The new South School was built on budget. The new Central School is $2.5 million over budget. The new Robin Hood and Colonial Park Schools are estimated to run a total of $2 million over budget.
“A ten percent overrun in this day and age is not unusual,” Connelly said.
These figures (representing an 11 percent overrun) were calculated by estimators working for project architects Flansburgh Associates of Boston.
The School Building Committee doesn’t have enough money in the budget to account for rising construction costs. The Committee knew costs would rise but didn’t anticipate this sharp an increase. No one did.
To bring South in on budget the Committee condensed the project timeline from eight years to four and rolled some money budgeted to cover construction cost inflation for those additional years into the South budget. This practice helped delay the inevitable.
Reimbursement from the State School Building Assistance Bureau covers the Stoneham project for 63 percent of all new construction for costs up to $163 per square foot.
With the price of construction work still rising, Stoneham may get nothing from the state for the last $4 million or so of construction.
Also, railroad right-of-way soil remediation behind the Central School will run about $1 million. The school will pay for this, hopefully getting the 63 percent state reimbursement. Then the town will foot the rest of the bill. The polluted soil was near the school but on town, not school, property.
In the end, the children of Stoneham will have brand-new, state of the art, clean, safe schools. The Central School is scheduled to open in September 2001, the Colonial Park and Robin Hood Schools in September 2003.
Editors Note:
Regardless of grim numbers, everyone involved in building the new schools has displayed the utmost dedication, and folks with no kids should remember that an educated population benefits everybody.
Football Coach Retires
Al Lanni, a member of Spartan coaching staff for 27 years and head coach for the last decade, announced his retirement last week.
The search for a replacement will involve parents, teachers and students, with High School Principal Tom Ryan making the eventual selection in time for next season’s gridiron campaign.
New classes
“Call me sometime when you have no class.”
— Rodney Dangerfield
Ryan announced that Stoneham High will offer several new classes in the next school year.
The Fine Arts Department will offer an honors studio art course with an advanced placement option.
The Math Department will offer an algebra 1 course which meets every day as a “double major.” Most classes meet every other day under the four 90 minute block schedule.
The World Languages Department will offer Latin three and change two American Sign Language courses from semester to full-year offerings.
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