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Three local school buildings are in the planning process for roof repairs or replacements. School roofs are major capital projects. They often cost millions of dollars, and each step of the process needs to be carefully timed to avoid, or minimize, disruptions during the school year. Here’s what Sudbury is looking at in the next few years:
Josiah Haynes Elementary School and General John Nixon Elementary School Roofs
The roof replacement projects for both schools were recently approved by the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) to proceed to the schematic design phase. That puts the Town of Sudbury and Sudbury Public Schools on a pre-determined schedule for the project, as set by the MSBA. If all goes well, the Town would get reimbursed for some portion of the projects. That could be a significant cost savings on major capital projects. In a letter to the Select Board asking for assistance with funding the designs, the chair of the school committee noted:
As part of this approval, the Town has 90 calendar days (January 30, 2025) to secure funding for the schematic design costs associated with these projects. The funding for the design on the Nixon roof was approved at the 2023 Fall Town meeting. However, approximately $100,000 in additional funds is needed to support the design work for the Haynes Elementary School project.
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There could be funding sources available that would allow the Town to avoid calling a Special Town Meeting for the design funds. One potential could be for the Select Board to allocate funds from the remaining American Rescue Plan Act funds, which have to be “obligated” before the end of this year, and spent by the end of 2026.
In the fall of 2023, the school committee reported that the estimate for the Nixon roof was $2,480,000. (Page 28) The committee report for the warrant article also noted the reimbursement rate isn’t certain:
“While the MSBA grant program reimbursement rate is adjusted for a number of factors, the statutory formula starts all districts at a Bases Rate of 31% reimbursement.”
The factors used by the MSBA to adjust the reimbursement include “community income factor,” “community wealth factor,” and “community poverty factor.” (Page 12)
In July of 2023, Combined Facility Director Sandra Duran presented on the roofs and the MSBA process to the SPS School Committee. The ballpark estimates presented at that time were as follows (Page 4):

If SPS secures the design funds in time, it’s possible, if not likely, that further action will be needed at the Annual Town Meeting in May 2025.
Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School Roof
The Lincoln-Sudbury School Committee got an update on their roof project timeline during their October 22 meeting.
The committee opted in September to go for a re-coating rather than a roof replacement. A full replacement was estimated at $6,320,000. A re-coating was estimated at $2,690,000, and would come with a 20-year warranty. The re-coating was strongly recommended to the committee. (Page 11)
In their September 24 meeting, the committee voted unanimously to pursue that option. (2:08:00)
It’s still early in the planning process, but they were informed that the district is aiming to do the work in the summer of 2026. They’re going to take a methodical approach that involves preparing a borrowing plan to fund the project, conducting meetings with the Lincoln and Sudbury Finance Committees to build consensus on the approach, and then they will go through the owner’s project manager selection and bidding process.
What is not yet known is precisely what approach each town will prefer for funding their portion of the project. However, that should emerge as discussions continue. As the timeline states, it’s possible that the towns choose a funding scenario that drives the need for a Special Town Meeting in the Fall of 2025. Right now the school district is getting its own borrowing plan in place as a baseline for moving forward with the process.
