School Officials Eye ECEC Move, Await MSBA Response

The Dedham School Committee took another needed step toward relocating the from the Capen School on Sprague Street to the on Rte. 109. 

The committee unanimously approved a recommendation for Town Meeting to give back about 2 acres of land back to the Dedham School Department four years after the department gave that land to the town for a senior center that never materialized.

The department has petitioned the Massachusetts School Building Authority for monetary help with renovating the Dexter School, and the department is still waiting to hear how much the MSBA would contribute.

Michael LaFrancesca, who heads the department's business affairs, siad the school would need some interior work and new boilers, but didn't know a ballpark range of cost of the project.

"We would not be going for a new school, we would be renovating the existing building," School Committee chairman Kevin Coughlin stressed.

Officials also declined to give a timeline on when the district would move the kindergarten program.

"We don't know what the timing of MSBA will be in responding to the districts that have projects. Once we get a response - whether positive or negative - we will know a timeline," superintendent June Doe said.