Change has become a common trend in the Scituate school system. The plan to combine SHS with Gates is one example of changes being made to the school district. The visioning process for this new school layout began in June of 2013. With ten students from grades 7-11, ten parents, and ten to twelve teachers, administrators, and community members, the goals for the ideal layout and educational plan were discussed.

Superintendent McCarthy said, “This building is going to be unlike any other that exists. It’s very unique.” In order to build the new school, the high school would lose the current Superintendent Office, the chorus room, senior cafeteria, and the recreation building. Also, the high school art rooms would be relocated. With these losses, the high school will also be accommodated with new additions. The high school would acquire brand new art rooms, an exhibition common area and gallery space for the artwork. Also, there would be a new auditorium, which will be larger than the current auditorium by three hundred seats. The auditorium would be located between the current large gym and cafeteria. Additionally, a new music room, scene shop (a storage and set construction area for the drama department), and lobby would be added to the high school.

Sophomore Hannah McNeil said she is only concerned that “it might be a bit noisy during construction”, but overall she thinks this would be a positive change for the school.

The new middle school would include grades six through eight. McCarthy emphasized the team concept which has become an important aspect at the middle school, as it points more to the project based style of learning. The most prominent aspect of the new Gates building plan is the layout for each grade as the school would be in a two floored system where each grade is separated. There would be eight classrooms surrounding one common area. The two teams from each grade would be connected by a staircase, allowing for interaction between the two teams. Also, there would be an  art and Da Vinci lab which focuses on robotics and engineering. The middle school would have its own dance studio, theater/drama, chorus, and band rooms, as well as its own gymnasium. The change which he stressed the most was the cafeteria, which is based off of a European structure. There would be two stories, connected by hellerup stair bleachers with stairs on either side.

Superintendent McCarthy is not concerned about having middle schoolers in the same building as high schoolers because he believes the students are generally respectful people. McCarthy cited the change in the buses this year as his reasoning behind not being concerned about combining the two levels of students. He described the high schoolers as policing the middle school students because when the high school students are on the bus, the middle school students behave better. Students are generally indifferent toward sharing a school with middle school students because they would hardly see them.

However, one major concern for the students is the traffic and how the traffic would be impacted by the increased population.  Superintendent McCarthy addressed this concern by saying traffic would still be a problem, but the school is adding one hundred thirty more parking spaces. In regards to the current and future issues with traffic, McCarthy identified this area as a trouble spot for traffic because it is next to a busy intersection and it is next to town hall and the police station.

With all these ideas and decisions being made, the plan still must pass the town’s vote. During the town meeting on December 3, the members will vote, and in order for it to move on to the January 10 vote, it needs a two-thirds majority. If it successfully passes to the January 10 vote, then the town will come to the school to vote. The ballot will contain two questions: one regarding the public safety building and the other will be the new school plan. In order for the school plan to pass by this vote, it needs a majority vote. For it to be a majority, the decision must be more than one-half. If the plan passes during this town vote, the construction process would begin in November of 2016 and it would last twenty-one months. The middle school should be completed by September of 2017. Once the construction is complete, the current Gates building would be turned over to the town. There has been talk about turning it into a town hall, selling it, or tearing it down and turning the land into a park.

One prominent concern shared by the adults of the town, as well as the students, is the cost. The potential budget the town would be responsible for is $54,369,399. The total cost is $75,750,000, but the town was allocated $750,000 for a feasibility study. Then, the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) is reimbursing the town for $20,630,601 because they are participating. This then leaves the town with a remaining cost of $54,369,399. When approaching the town about the cost, McCarthy tells people that in order to renovate Gates and leave it where it is now, the town would pay $45,000,000. He then points out that for $9,000,000 dollars more, the town would get a new middle school and new additions to the high school. These will be the two options on the ballot for the January 10 decision, and he hopes people will choose the latter.

With all the changes happening throughout the school district, students have had mixed feelings. As senior Madison Reid said, “People don’t generally like change, but they need to get used to it.” Sometimes, it is more important to look at the bigger picture, rather than the individual changes.