ATHOL – The Athol Royalston Regional School District was notified this week of its acceptance into the eligibility period of the Massachusetts School Building Authority’s (MSBA) Core Program with the goal of constructing a new high school.

The MSBA board voted on Friday, Dec. 13, to approve the district’s application. This step gives the district from May 1, 2025, to Jan. 26, 2026, to meet the preliminary requirements set by the MSBA, including working with the towns of Athol and Royalston to come up with the funds needed to enter the feasibility study portion of the program.

At a School Committee meeting in March, Greg Smolley of Drummey Rosane Anderson Architects estimated the cost of the feasibility study to be between $1.5 and $1.7 million. The firm has been hired to assess all four of the district’s school buildings. The cost of the study would be split between the two towns, with the MSBA reimbursing the communities up to 80 percent.

“I’ve set up meetings to go to each of the selectboards to discuss more about the process with them,” School Superintendent Matt Ehrenworth said. “But we wanted to let people know we’ve been accepted into the program. We’ve been waiting for months to find out if our application had been accepted.”

Ehrenworth said conditions at the existing high school necessitate the construction of a new facility.

“First of all, our science and academic facilities do not meet the needs of the students,” he said. “We are running early college academies, we are running our Innovation Career Pathways program, and we’re running advanced placement science and technology classes, and our space is just not suited for the kinds of hands-on learning experiences that our kids need.”

The current high school, he pointed out, was built in 1960.

“Another piece is, we’re really hopeful to get the pre-K moved to the high school,” Ehrenworth continued, “so that early childhood development will be one of our career pathways; the students will have the opportunity to intern right in the high school at the pre-K center, which would be perfect.”

Ehrenworth envisions a new high school being constructed on the property occupied by the current complex. The superintendent stressed that there will be a great deal of community involvement throughout the process.

“There will be committees that are formed with representatives from both towns – community members, parents, staff,” he said. “This first step is an invitation to explore what’s right for the community at our new high school. I don’t want people to feel that this is something the schools are doing to them; this is something the schools are doing for the community, with the community. This is a tremendous opportunity for the community.”

“It’s really good to know we have the potential to partner with MSBA,” said Town Manager Shaun Suhoski. “I know the district has been working hard on this. This presents opportunities and opens some doors, should the towns wish to proceed through those doors.”

Suhoski said the Selectboard plans on meeting with Ehrenworth after the first of the year.

“Matt wants to be transparent and fully involve the community,” Suhoski said.

“I think everyone knows the life cycle of the existing high school is winding down,” he continued. “You can debate whether it has five years or 10 years, but it’s winding down; there’s no question about that. This is a multi-year process that will offer people in the community the chance to think about whether it’s time, what the costs are, and it will give us all time to plan that appropriately. So, kudos to the School Department. It’s the first step in a pretty long journey that will involve a lot of discussion on the part of the people of Athol and Royalston.”

Suhoski said it’s too early in the process to talk about where the money for a feasibility study will come from.

“I think we owe the school district the courtesy of attending a Selectboard meeting and discuss their timeline, their hopes, their wishes, their vision,” he said. “That will allow the towns’ elected boards, the policy makers, the Selectboard and the finance teams time to start digging into the numbers.”

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com