Public schools awarded $2.87 million state grant for middle school roof

Feb 16, 2017

The state has awarded Dartmouth Public Schools a $2.87 million facilities grant to accelerate the repair of the middle school roof.

The Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) awarded Dartmouth $2,865,109 for the $5,894,699 project during its February 15 meeting. Dartmouth officials said the 123,000 square-foot roof was installed in sections as the building was expanded, and that parts of the roof are about 50 years old.

Officials originally hoped to start replacing the school's 37 different roof systems over the summer, and finish before students return in fall, however Town Meeting voters must accept the grant and okay more funding for the reapirs in June, said Superintendent Bonny Gifford. Therefore, the timeline will have to be adjusted.

Town Meeting voters approved $4.25 million for the project last spring. It’s currently unclear how much added funding voters will be asked to approve.

MSBA assigned both project manager Atlantic Construction Services and designer CSS Architects, Inc. to the project last October.

Dartmouth was one of 20 school districts to receive state funding. MSBA awarded up to $54,303,504 for 35 different repair projects statewide.