State Treasurer Tim Cahill, Chairman of the Massachusetts School Building Authority (“MSBA”), and Katherine Craven, MSBA Executive Director, were in Grafton today to present a $36,583,271 check to the town for the new Grafton Memorial Senior High School. The ceremonial check represents the maximum amount the MSBA has agreed to pay for the construction of the new school. The ceremony celebrates the partnership and collaborative effort between the MSBA and the town to bring the project to fruition.
“The benefits of this project are threefold: it will save taxpayers money, provide a safe and sustainable learning environment for the students of Grafton, and it will create well-paying jobs at a time when a job is a hard thing to find,” said Treasurer Tim Cahill.
“The new Grafton High School will incorporate design elements from one of our Model Schools which will not only allow save taxpayer money on design time but allow Grafton to take advantage of the current favorable construction climate. This project is an excellent example of the partnership the MSBA has with districts,” said Katherine Craven.
“I am very pleased to see this funding awarded to Grafton,” said Sen. Michael Moore. “In the long run, this project will save the town money, address health and safety issues, and create a better learning facility for students preparing to compete in a 21st Century world. This is a wise investment in the future of our children and in the future of the town’s infrastructure.”
The MSBA is collaborating with municipalities to equitably invest $2.5 billion in schools across the Commonwealth by finding the right-sized, most fiscally responsible and educationally appropriate solutions to create safe and sound learning environments. The MSBA has reformed the Commonwealth’s formerly rampant and unsustainable program, which had accumulated $11 billion in debt. In 2007, as a result of programmatic reforms and sound fiscal management, the MSBA was able to reopen a sustainable, reformed grant program. In its five year history, the MSBA has made approximately $7 billion in reimbursements to cities, towns and regional school districts for school construction projects. These timely payments have saved municipalities over $2.9 billion in avoided local interest costs and have provided much needed cash flow to municipalities in these difficult economic times.