Proposed SEEM Leases for Beebe, Ripley Schools Total $887K Over Three Years

SEEM Collaborative would pay $887,010 over the next three years to rent the Beebe and Ripley Schools in Melrose, according to lease agreements approved by the Melrose School Committee last week.

A special education collaborative including Melrose and nine other communities, . With the leases approved by the Melrose School Committee, SEEM's directors must now approve those agreements.

At last week's School Committee meeting, Superintendent Joe Casey said the lease agreements would be brought back to SEEM on April 4.

"They anticipate they will sign off on this as well and vote approve," Casey said. "We feel these terms would be beneficial to Melrose. It creates a strong and vibrant school district and backfills a needed revenue source."

To lease the Beebe School, SEEM would pay $145,000 next year and then $205,000 for each of the following two years (lease attached as PDF). Melrose Schools Business Manager Greg Zammuto told the committee that the lower fee in the first year of the lease accounts for approximately $60,000 in build out costs that would be undertaken by SEEM at the school.

The lease also contains a mutual two-year extension option, although the cost of extending the lease until 2016 is to be determined.

SEEM has leased the the former Ripley School in Melrose since 2008, where it runs its . The new lease (PDF attached) would cost SEEM $110,670 per year to lease the Ripley for the next three years—a total of $332,010—with a two-year extension option.

In response to questions by committee member Carrie Kourkoumelis, Zammuto and Casey said they do not foresee within the next five years a need for "swing space"—a school to house students during renovations of another school or the building of a new school. Also, Casey said that more discussion is needed around formulating a parking plan for the Beebe School.

After Kourkoumelis asked if the district ever approached private commercial real estate about the Beebe School, Mayor Rob Dolan said that the city actually had a preliminary offer from an assisted living company interested in buying the property and connecting it with the adjacent Milano Senior Center.

Dolan said he believed that maintaining ownership of the property allows the district to receive money every year through leases to subsidize the budget, while giving the district swing space if needed.

"People look back at the deal for Coolidge Apartments (the former Calvin Coolidge School on Main Street) and it’s really not worth it," he said. "We have assets working toward our advantage continuously."

"I saw Malden sell several schools for $200,000 a piece and now they’re multi-million dollar apartment complexes," Kourkoumelis concurred. "I would hate to see that happen."

Committee member J.D. LaRock said that it appears SEEM moving into the district "increases local capacity to provide special education services" and asked Casey to return to the committee with more information on that, but added that he is a "little sad" about , the current Beebe School tenant, leaving Melrose.

"For many families in Melrose, Anova was seen as a lifeline, a level of education they could not find elsewhere," LaRock said. Dolan added that five Melrose students currently attend Anova.

Casey and Dolan both said they are working with Anova founder Courtney Dickinson to help find Anova a new home, with the superintendent and mayor speaking to their counterparts in other communities on Anova's behalf.