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Reported by us | Swansea

State recommends up to $56.7 million for Swansea junior high as Dighton school plan comes in at $123.2 million

The recommendations went to the Massachusetts School Building Authority board Oct. 28. Swansea voters decide the borrowing Tuesday, and Dighton-Rehoboth is aiming for the state's scope and budget vote next spring.

By the SC360 Schools Desk | Published Oct. 29, 2026 | Last verified Oct. 29, 2026, 3:34 a.m. ET

SWANSEA The state's school building authority would pay $55,592,153 toward Swansea's planned $149.7 million Joseph Case Junior High School, and as much as $56,677,375 if some contingency spending qualifies, under a staff recommendation sent to the Massachusetts School Building Authority board for its Oct. 28 meeting. Swansea voters decide Question 10, the borrowing for the school, on Tuesday, Nov. 3.

The same meeting carried a cost estimate for Dighton's plan to replace Dighton Elementary School with a new building: $123,240,910 in total project costs, including an estimated $94,800,700 for construction. Authority staff recommended that the Dighton-Rehoboth Regional School District be cleared to move into schematic design.

SC360 previewed both board votes on Oct. 25.

Swansea: how the grant is figured

The staff memo starts from a project budget of $142,116,766 before contingencies and removes $52,170,277 in costs the authority does not fund, such as legal fees, moving costs, work on ineligible building area and construction costs above its funding limits. That leaves $89,946,489 eligible for reimbursement.

Swansea's rate is 61.82%: a base rate of 56.26% plus 1.56 incentive points for maintenance, three for energy efficiency and one for indoor air quality. The memo says the energy and air quality points are provisional and depend on Swansea meeting the authority's Green Schools requirements, and the rate will be adjusted if it does not. At 61.82%, the grant comes to $55,604,919, less $12,766 for commissioning of ineligible space.

Of $7,606,968 set aside for owner's and construction contingencies, $1,755,454 could be eligible, and staff put the extra grant on that share at up to $1,085,222, subject to audit. The authority does not expect the district to spend all of its contingency on eligible costs, the memo says.

The staff recommendation, dated Oct. 21, would let the authority's executive director sign a Project Scope and Budget Agreement and a Project Funding Agreement with Swansea. The new school would serve 510 students in grades 6 to 8 on the Joseph Case High School site, in a building of 114,707 square feet, with construction estimated at $117,030,279, or $1,020 a square foot. The current junior high opened in 1927, with an addition in 1952, and enrolled 488 students in 2025-26.

The district counts $61,444,746 in state reimbursements and rebates, leaving Swansea's share at $88,278,988. It estimates the added tax on the average single-family home, assessed at $494,954, at $141 to $200 a quarter on a 30-year bond at interest rates of 3% to 6%, assuming the full contingency is spent, which it calls "not typical." Question 10 needs a simple majority.

Dighton: a new school on the shared campus

Dighton Elementary opened in 1953 and now covers 68,500 square feet on a 23.4-acre site it shares with Dighton Middle School. The district enrolled 447 students there in 2025-26, and the authority and district agreed on a design enrollment of 515 students in kindergarten through grade 4, plus pre-kindergarten.

The district studied 12 early options before narrowing to four. A code upgrade alone was estimated at $93,410,919 in total project costs, an addition and renovation at $128,696,790, and a second new building layout at $122,755,599. The chosen plan, Option 3B, is a 92,250-square-foot new school that the district says would separate bus traffic from parent drop-off, create a central green linking the elementary and middle schools, and avoid temporary modular classrooms.

Authority staff found the district's choice "reasonable and cost-effective." The district's feasibility study reimbursement rate is 55.63%. The district is aiming for the board's approval of a scope and budget agreement on April 28, 2027, the step that sets the state's maximum grant.

What comes next

Swansea residents vote on Question 10 on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Dighton's School Building Committee next meets Monday, Nov. 16. Swansea Public Schools, led by Superintendent Scott C. Holcomb, is at 508-675-1195. The Dighton-Rehoboth district office is at 508-252-5000.

Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.

Notes

Every fact comes from the Massachusetts School Building Authority's Oct. 28 board meeting information page and its two staff memos dated Oct. 21, the Swansea district's project page and Sept. 16 forum presentation, and the Dighton building committee's Oct. 26 agenda. We read them on Oct. 29. Numbers recomputed: $142,116,766 minus $52,170,277 is $89,946,489; 61.82% of that is $55,604,919; less $12,766 is $55,592,153; plus $1,085,222 is $56,677,375; 56.26 plus 1.56, 3 and 1 points is 61.82; $7,606,968 minus $5,851,514 is $1,755,454; $149,723,734 minus $61,444,746 is $88,278,988. We checked each date and weekday against a calendar: Oct. 28 is a Wednesday, Nov. 3 a Tuesday, Nov. 16 a Monday and April 28, 2027 a Wednesday. The story reports the staff recommendations; the board's votes are reported when the authority posts them. No students are named.

Corrections

No corrections to this story. If something here is wrong, tell us. Every correction is dated on the story and listed in our public log.

Sources (6)

  1. Massachusetts School Building Authority: October 28, 2026 Board Meeting InformationLists the Swansea Joseph Case Junior High item under Invitation to Project Scope and Budget (total project budget $149,723,734, estimated maximum total facilities grant $55,592,153) and the Dighton Elementary item under Recommendation for Preferred Schematic Design (estimated total construction $94,800,700, estimated total project costs $123,240,910), with the staff memos.Read Oct. 29, 2026.
  2. MSBA staff memo: Town of Swansea, Joseph Case Junior High School, Project Scope and Budget, Oct. 21, 2026Recommendation; 510-student design enrollment, 488 enrolled 2025-26; opened 1927, 1952 addition; 61.82% rate with incentive points and the Green Schools condition; budget table from $142,116,766 to $55,592,153; contingency figures; $56,677,375 maximum; 114,707 square feet; $1,020 a square foot. Read Oct. 29, 2026.
  3. MSBA staff memo: Dighton-Rehoboth Regional School District, Dighton Elementary School, Preferred Schematic, Oct. 21, 2026Recommendation to proceed into schematic design; 515-student design enrollment, 447 enrolled 2025-26; opened 1953; 68,500 square feet on 23.4 acres shared with Dighton Middle School; 12 preliminary options; final four with costs; Option 3B reasons; "reasonable and cost-effective"; 55.63% feasibility rate; April 28, 2027 target. Read Oct. 29, 2026.
  4. Swansea Public Schools: MSBA Joseph Case Jr. High Building ProjectKey dates: Oct. 28 MSBA board approval of project scope and budget; Nov. 3 ballot vote, Question 10; superintendent and central office phone. Read Oct. 29, 2026.
  5. Swansea Public Schools: Sept. 16, 2026 community forum presentationMSBA reimbursements and rebates $61,444,746; Swansea share $88,278,988; quarterly tax impact $141 to $200 on the average single-family home ($494,954 assessed) at 3% to 6% on a 30-year bond; full contingency use "not typical"; simple majority for the ballot vote. Read Oct. 29, 2026.
  6. Dighton-Rehoboth Regional School District: Dighton Elementary School Building Committee agenda, Oct. 26, 2026Next meetings: Nov. 16, 2026, a new date for the November meeting. Linked from https://www.drregional.org/page/msba, which lists the district office at 2700 Regional Road, North Dighton, phone 508-252-5000. Read Oct. 29, 2026.

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