Politics & Government

Two News Schools on Tap for Hanscom Air Force Base

Work will begin this spring on a new middle school at Hanscom, while a $1.1 trillion government spending deal approved last week includes funding for a new primary school at the Air Force Base located between Concord, Bedford, Lincoln and Lexington.

Written by Patrick Ball

Plans are progressing to replace Hanscom Air Force Base’s aging elementary and middle schools, which serve children of military personnel living on base.

Lowell firm, J & J contractors Inc, is slated to begin work this spring on constructing a new middle school at Hanscom, according to the Lowell Sun, which reported the US Army Corps of Engineers awarded a $31.6 million contract to the firm.

Meanwhile in Washington, the $1.1 trillion government spending deal inked last week includes $36 million slated for a new primary school at Hanscom AFB, according to The Boston Globe.

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A base spokesperson confirmed the reports earlier this week.

Hanscom’s primary and middle schools, which together cover Kindergarten through Grade 8, are part of the Lincoln School District but supported by the federal government. High-schoolers who live on base attend Bedford High.

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The latest funding appropriation comes after $34 million was awarded to build a new Hanscom Middle School in 2011. Together, the appropriations support a “two-pronged effort” to replace the schools, the Globe reported.

“Undersized classrooms, inadequate facilities, and poorly configured buildings reduce efficiency and fail to meet the standards of the local school system,” Patty Welsh, a spokeswoman for the base, reportedly told the Globe in a statement.

Construction on the new middle school is expected to take a little more than two years, according to the Sun. 


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