Marblehead celebrates school project surplus

MARBLEHEAD – The Village School Building Committee has finished the $21.76 million school repair project with a surplus of $646,441.School Business Manager Kevin Meagher told the School Committee in his report that one of the vendors has submitted two small change order requests that “we are disputing as reflecting work that was already required under the terms of the existing contract.”He also cautioned the committee that, “These aren?t the absolute final costs. Until everything is audited and closed out you never know.”That said, Superintendent of Schools Greg Maass told the committee he was “pretty pleased” with the surplus.?If you have a deficit, that?s a big deal,” he said. “In the end a surplus is what you want and this is over $500,000.”The first School Committee meeting Maass attended as superintendent last summer featured heated discussion of $4 million in change orders for the Village School, which the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) has refused to reimburse the town for.That discussion led Maass to institute a new change order protocol for the Glover School project.On a motion by committee member Kathleen Leonard, the committee voted to send letters thanking the Village School Building Committee members for their service.