Manchester Essex School Committee Advances Feasibility Study, Faces $300,000 Budget Increase

ESSEX — May 4, 2026 — Manchester Essex Regional School Committee advances school facilities feasibility milestone but discloses a $300,000 cost overrun. The School Building Committee voted unanimously on April 28 to approve the preferred schematic report — the final major deliverable of the Massachusetts School Building Authority feasibility study module — and has submitted it to MSBA for review, clearing the path toward schematic design with an October 2026 submission deadline. The full School Committee learned Monday that the feasibility budget will need to increase from $1.5 million to an estimated $1.8 million, attributed to the complexity of a multi-option configuration study and a time-and-materials contract structure now required by MSBA. Officials said the $300,000 increase would draw on reimbursable MSBA funds already flowing back to the project and would not require a new cash appropriation from the two member towns, though a formal School Committee vote on the budget increase is expected by May 19. A district official acknowledged the gap squarely: "I put together the initial budget for feasibility and I think I underestimated the true cost of escalation — I'll own that piece of it." Construction cost escalation was cited as a broader concern, with per-square-foot general construction costs described as having roughly doubled to approximately $1,030 since the earlier Memorial School project.