GREENFIELD, MA (FRANKLIN COUNTY NOW) — At Wednesday’s Greenfield School Committee meeting, the Committee learned of a steep increase in the cost to replace the fire alarm system at the middle school. The cost was originally estimated to be approximately $150,000 and now estimates have found it would be closer to $315,000.
The current fire alarm system has been deemed obsolete with replacement parts no longer available to repair to system, necessitating a full replacement.
On top of that, potential changes in regulations around new school fire alarms mean they may have to include a VoiceOver program which would cost an additional $100,000.
After deliberation and input from Mayor Desorgher, who said there are a number of large capital requests coming through this year, the Committee voted to raise the Capital request from $150,000 to $315,000 and opted not to add in the additional $100,000 for the VoiceOver system as it is unclear whether or when that may become law.