School Committee Debates Accelerating AC Project

School Committee · Meeting of August 25, 2026

WELLESLEY — The Wellesley School Committee heard dueling timelines for air conditioning at four schools but took no vote, deferring to a Permanent Building Committee review Thursday. Facilities Management Department Director Joe McDonough defended his department's schedule, targeting summer 2028 completion at Bates, Fiske and Schofield, against a citizens' petition seeking summer 2027, saying his group has saved the town $10 million since 2017 and warning "it's not going to go any faster" on proposed shortcuts like temporary generators. Resident Kara Sieczkiewicz told the committee "we can afford air conditioning for our children." Town Meeting approved $182,000 for the underlying feasibility study in April 2025.

Member Linda Chow noted the project was originally slated for fiscal 2029-2030, calling the current plan already an acceleration. A committee vote is planned for September 8.

In the full story:

• Public Comment: Residents Push for 2027 Completion
• Reports: Team Rooms Construction and Start of School
• Superintendent Contract: Item Pulled From Agenda
• Substantive content: Ofenloch said she had been "optimistic" the committee would be ready to vote but was "just not quite there yet."
• Air Conditioning Project at Bates, Fiske, Schofield and WMS: FMD's Response to the Citizens' Petition
• Policy JJE: Student Fund-Raising Activities
• Town Wide Capital Planning Committee: Project Proposal Forms
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 2,724 words

Source: the School Committee meeting of August 25, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.