Marblehead Glover override approved

MARBLEHEAD – The town of Marblehead voted yes on the $25.5 million override to build a new Glover School Tuesday.A total of 6,144 voters turned out with 3,394 voting yes and 2,750 voting no.The Massachusetts State Building Authority will reimburse the town 40 percent of the project’s cost, which leaves the town paying $15.3 million. It will cost the average homeowner $109 in increased taxes for the next 20 years.”It is connected to funding reimbursement from the MSBA,” said acting superintendent of schools Brain Salzer as to why this override was important to pass. “I’m pretty sure if it doesn’t pass we won’t be eligible for those reimbursements from them anymore.”Before the vote Salzer could not decide which way voters would swing. “I could not speculate,” said Salzer.But Salzer believed it is a project worth passing. “It has been a well-planned project. A high quality of time and effort went into it. There was a lot of respect for the taxpayer to reduce cost. It is the best product we could put forward,” said Salzer.Last June, the new Glover School proposal failed to pass by 71 votes. This plan costs $2 million dollars less than the previous one.Marblehead native Teresa Dever was on the committee to make the new Glover School a reality. “Glover School is one of the worst schools in the state,” said Dever. “The conditions there are not acceptable and are not safe for our children.”One of the problems with Glover is the heating system. In some rooms kids sit in boiling temperatures and in others kids are freezing.”Kids have to wear hats and gloves in some classrooms because it is so cold,” said Dever. “In other classrooms, kids have to wear tank tops because it is so hot.”Dever believes now is the best time do something about Glover. “To do nothing is not an option,” she said. “It is our civic duty to provide the best education we can to our children.”Dever, who believed the 40-percent reimbursement from the state should have added incentive for people, said. “Eventually the town will have to build a new school and to fully fund it without the state’s help will be a burden.”School Committee member EuRim Chun stood outside the Masonic Temple holding a sign that said “Vote Yes for Glover.””It is a fiscally sound project,” said Chun. “It also much needed in our district.”Lisa Sugarman also voted yes for the new Glover School. She stood outside the Masonic Temple as well hoping to get support for the project with her two teen daughters, Riley, 14 and Libby, 11. Sugarman is a reading tutor at the current Glover School.”It is time for a new school,” said Sugarman. “We stand to lose something that can’t be replaced.” Sugarman’s daughters are graduates from the Glover School. “It was so much fun there,” said Riley. “It is helping out the younger generation.”While the vote caused a heated debate among neighbors, Sugarman heard a lot of support. “It has really been a grassroots effort,” said Sugarman. “People did whatever they could to help.”Dever echoed that sentiment, saying, “We had street leaders for every street. People would just head out on their streets and talk to their neighbors as to why this needs to happen.””It is just not a yes for Glover,” said Dever. “It is a yes for Marblehead.”