ive communities west and north of Boston will vote on important school projects on Election Day, Nov. 7. Most of the projects would require a small increase in property taxes, but all are worth it to provide the quality education children have a right to expect.
The issue ought to be an easy one for voters in NEWTON, an affluent city that can afford to undertake an $80 million renovation of its two high schools without a tax increase. Some residents have put the issue on the ballot, saying that taxpayers were not adequately consulted and the projects could be done less expensively. The issue was amply debated by the School Committee and the Board of Aldermen, and the cost is reasonable given that it involves extensive renovations of both Newton North and Newton South high schools and the expansion of South. When completed, the two schools would be ready to house 3,800 students with all the special classes, computer hookups, fire-protection equipment, and other features that are essential today.
The same concerns have caused school officials to press for a completely new high school for the combined LINCOLN-SUDBURY district, which, unlike land-poor Newton, has space for a new building. John Ritchie, the superintendent, estimates that enrollment will grow from a low of 960 students in 1996 to 1,800 by 2008 at the 45-year-old school.
The project would cost $70 million, a $300 yearly increase in tax bills for Sudbury, where most of the students live. The Town Meeting there approved it overwhelmingly last month - an example voters should follow.
In NATICK, Superintendent Jerome Goldberg and the School Committee want to replace the Wilson Middle School - like Lincoln-Sudbury, a relic of the 1950s. Goldberg cites a special urgency because ''Wilson has been deemed unfit by two architectural firms.''
Townspeople rejected a Proposition 21/2 override by 177 votes last year, but a larger turnout is expected on Tuesday. Construction of the $24.6 million school would add an average of $75 to property tax bills, a good investment.
It's a closer call in NORTH READING, where some residents are trying to save the Batchelder School, built in 1917. The School Committee and Superintendent David Troughton want to replace this historic structure at a cost of $12 million. A $5 million police station is also proposed in the override question. The ''Batch,'' a sturdy Georgian-style building, has already undergone two additions and a makeshift expansion with modular classrooms. Its location on a hillside next to the high school playing field makes renovation and further expansion difficult. On balance, it would be better to start afresh on land owned by the School Department a mile away.
Cost of the new school would add at most $200 to a typical real estate tax bill. As for the Batchelder, it could be renovated into a new town hall or a school administration center. The building would retain the exterior charm that has made it a beloved fixture in town.
