Needham School Building Committee Approves Pollard Design Items, Proprietary Tech List

NEEDHAM — May 18, 2026 — Needham's building committees approved more than $1 million in project invoices and advanced schematic design for the new Pollard Middle School at a joint virtual meeting May 18. The Permanent Public Building Committee, chaired by Richard Cream, voted unanimously on 11 separate invoices covering the Library Young Adult renovation — including $186,860.74 to Strategic Spaces for furniture — the DPW Fleet Maintenance Facility, and the Newman Theater electrical project. The companion School Building Committee then approved $214,754.49 in additional Pollard project invoices and unanimously passed a proprietary items list standardizing the new school's technology systems on town-wide platforms including Schneider Electric's building management system and Avigilon security controls. A lengthy debate preceded the proprietary vote, with member Stuart Chandler asking whether the project bears an unfair cost burden from system standardization and building maintenance manager Barry warning that Schneider has historically been difficult to negotiate with: "I just don't want to see them try to take advantage of the town, especially for this project." The SBC is targeting a June 25 submission of its schematic design package to the MSBA to qualify for an August 26 board budget approval, with a full committee vote on submission set for June 22.