Essex School Committee Hears $91–$93 Million Elementary School Cost Estimate

ESSEX — April 27, 2026 — Manchester Essex Regional School District's School Committee received a $91 million to $93 million cost range for the proposed new Essex elementary school at its April 27 meeting. Superintendent Pamela Beals reported that the Essex School Building Committee took a unanimous straw poll on April 14 in favor of design Option F — which positions the building toward the front of the site with a community trail in the rear — and was set to vote on a preferred schematic option the following evening to advance the project into schematic design. Beals cautioned members heading into Manchester's town meeting that no project budget exists yet, that no community vote would be sought that evening, and that the capital apportionment formula splitting costs between Manchester and Essex has not been recalculated since Memorial School was built. The committee also reviewed the district's proposed $33.7 million FY 2027 operating budget, a 3.5 percent increase that includes $600,000 in reserves, agreeing to drop language describing it as "more balanced than last year" after a member called the framing subjective.