Sen. Jason Lewis and Rep. Kate Lipper-Garabedian Support New WMHS

We write to express our continuing strong support for the new Wakefield Memorial High School building project.

The high school has needed to be replaced for a long time. With Town officials and residents, we advocated for many years for the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) to accept Wakefield High School into its very competitive grant program. We were finally successful in late 2019, and since then, the community has worked closely with the MSBA to move the project through each stage of a rigorous process. This process ensures that the final design and construction of a new school facility best meets the current and future academic needs of the student body and is as cost effective as possible.

When this project initially got underway, nobody could have foreseen the unprecedented challenges that would impact the construction industry -- including supply chain bottlenecks, workforce shortages, and rampant cost escalation in raw materials -- and, as a result, significantly increase the projected total cost of the new high school. The Wakefield High School Building Committee has done, and will continue to do, everything possible to minimize and mitigate these unprecedented cost pressures on the project.

We have advocated forcefully with the MSBA that they should do more to assist Wakefield and other communities in a similar situation, and the agency responded recently by raising the allowable per square foot reimbursement cap. This results in a significant increase to the grant amount that Wakefield will be receiving from the state and reduces the amount that will need to be funded by local taxpayers. We will continue to pursue all potential avenues for securing additional state resources and investments for this critical project.

In closing, we thank the Wakefield High School Building Committee, Wakefield School Committee, Wakefield Town Council, Superintendent Lyons, Town Administrator Maio, and everyone else who has worked so hard and diligently to move this project forward. We are confident that the new Wakefield Memorial High School will be a tremendous asset for Wakefield’s students and families for years to come and an excellent investment for the entire community.

State Senator Jason Lewis

State Representative Kate Lipper-Garabedian