By Allison McDonald

When it comes to the elementary school building project in Amherst, by all means – advocate with elected and public decision makers. The project will be all the better with more voices and perspectives in the mix.

But, effective advocacy should not rely on misleading statements or false claims. This post is to fact-check a number of these statements and claims.

A petition is going around, created by a PAC in Amherst, that compares the two potential building sites, providing some accurate info but leaving out other critical information and including statements that are misleading or false. Specifically:

• Yes, the project designers have recommended a roundabout be constructed at the Wildwood entrance to accommodate the increased traffic from the consolidated school. But they also recommended construction to widen the road in front of Fort River to accommodate the increased traffic at that site. And, importantly, the traffic study (completed by traffic engineers) demonstrates that the traffic around the Fort River site is significantly worse than around the Wildwood site, both today and after potential construction at either location.
• No, Fort River will not “most likely be sold or leased for development” were Wildwood selected as the site for the consolidated school. There has been no such discussion. In fact, multiple Town Councilors have stated in public meetings their commitment to retaining both properties for the town.
• No, it’s not true that the community fields at the Fort River location “would likely be lost.” Again, there has been no such discussion. If the Wildwood location were to be selected for the building project, improvements to fields at the Fort River location will not be part of the project but the fields will by no means “be lost.” In fact, since the latest estimates show that the building costs at the Wildwood location could be approximately $2 million lower than at Fort River, the community could use some of those savings to improve the community fields at Fort River should it choose.
• Yes, the full project completion will take longer at the Wildwood location than at the Fort River location. But, students will move into the new building in fall of 2026 in either location. If the Wildwood location is selected, the rebuilding of a parking lot would need to be completed by the following spring or summer.
• Yes, decisions eventually will need to be made about what to do with the site that is not selected for the school building project, and many interesting and worthy ideas have already been proposed. But, both Wildwood and Fort River buildings are failing – it’s why we are consolidating the two schools in this building project, after all. Repurposing either one of the buildings would cost millions in renovations and repairs – and in the case of Wildwood, removal of hazardous materials – that are not part of this school building project. And, any such decision can only be made after the decision is made about which location is best for the consolidated elementary school.

I, personally, am concerned about the extended period of limited access to outdoor spaces for students during construction were the Wildwood location selected, but the choice of building location is far from a “clear choice” or a “no-brainer” as some would have you believe.

The facts and professional analyses both demonstrate that while there are pros and cons associated with each location, both are workable. The Elementary School Building Committee has a tough decision to make when it meets on June 13, and I will support them whatever choice they make. Because the most important thing is that we get our students into a new school building as soon as possible.

Allison McDonald is the chair of the Amherst School Committee; the views expressed in this column are her own. (From the editors: Continue below for important alerts.)

The Elementary School Building Committee is hosting a Community Forum tomorrow night, Thursday, on Zoom, 6:30-9:00 p.m. https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86119993876 Meeting ID  861 1999 3876

The Elementary School Building Committee will meet next Monday morning, 8:30-11:00 a.m. by Zoom and may vote on the preferred option (that is, location and type of construction) at that time. Here is the link. Meeting ID 829 3205 2132

There will be no post tomorrow.