Sandwich School Committee Flags Unsafe Tennis Courts, Eyes $600,000 in FY26 Capital Spending

SANDWICH -- February 26, 2025, Sandwich School Committee flags unsafe tennis courts and eyes roughly $600,000 in capital spending for FY26. Superintendent Joseph Mastrostefano told the committee at its February 26 meeting that the six tennis courts at Sandwich Middle High School are structurally unsound, one court is closed to competition entirely, and that an $81,000 placeholder in the capital plan "won't put a dent in it," according to Director of Facilities Chris Harper, who noted the recently completed basketball court cost $130,000 and the tennis complex will require full demolition and reconstruction, plus new fencing, lighting, and ADA-compliant pathways. The broader tentative capital package includes a $471,899 security camera and lock upgrade at Oak Ridge Elementary, which Mastrostefano called a "rock-solid" estimate, and a conversion of the Forestdale band room for the Sandwich Partnership program, which lost access to its interim home at Sand Hill School. Select Board liaison Charlie Holden urged the committee during public comment to "quantify this urgent list" before presenting to the Finance Committee, which is scheduled to hear school capital needs within two weeks. The committee also voted 5-0 to approve a revised Sandwich Middle High School program of studies that drops a proposed physical education waiver after school attorney Joe Emerson advised it conflicts with Massachusetts General Law Chapter 71, Section 3.