Weymouth School Committee Awards $4.9 Million Adams Early Childhood Renovation Contract

WEYMOUTH -- October 19, 2023, Weymouth School Committee awards a nearly $5 million renovation contract and hears urgent pleas for ESP living wages. The committee voted to award a $4,949,242 interior renovation contract to GVW Inc. of East Boston for the Abigail Adams Early Childhood Learning Center, with construction planned to begin in November and the school set to open in September 2024. Public comment was dominated by education support professionals and their allies, with WEA President Mike Murphy telling the board that ESPs earning roughly $20,000 a year are being told there is no money while the town carries a $200 million budget. Inclusion teacher Heike Tuplin reported that 30 ESPs have left the district since the start of the school year, and Unit D negotiating co-chair Kathryn Montero declared, "We will no longer sit back and accept words over actions." The committee also accepted a budget forecast projecting 6.5 percent school budget growth for fiscal year 2025, against a typical town increase of 3.8 percent, and is working to absorb approximately $2.5 million in remaining ESSER fiscal cliff exposure.