Essex School Building Committee Unanimously Accepts Space Summaries, Educational Program

ESSEX — November 6, 2025 — Essex Elementary School Building Committee clears space summaries and educational program, advancing the MSBA feasibility study toward a January submission deadline. Meeting November 6, the committee unanimously approved two vendor invoices — $46,485.50 to Dore and Whittier Management Partners and $29,846.21 to JCJ Architecture — before voting 10-0 to accept three enrollment-based space summaries and a draft educational program for forwarding to the School Committee. Project architect Jeff of JCJ presented six preliminary alternative configurations, ranging from a code-upgrade-only renovation of the existing 53,036-square-foot Essex building to a full new-construction K-5 campus and a 515-student consolidation at Manchester Memorial requiring a roughly 42,000-square-foot addition to a building already at its code-maximum footprint. Committee member Pam Boatman went on record calling the Memorial consolidation "most detrimental to kids and community," citing social disruption for grade-4 students and the elimination of Essex's only large community gathering space. Members were directed to submit written feedback on draft evaluation criteria within one week; a public community meeting is set for November 20.