Wayland capital committee pushes schools to fully fund radio system

WAYLAND — December 9, 2025 — Wayland's Capital Improvement Planning Committee pressed schools to fully fund a radio upgrade rather than phase it. Chair Kelly Lappin's committee reviewed a $200,000 fiscal 2027 placeholder for school walkie-talkies and a high school repeater, which staff said could come in closer to $150,000. Member Brian O'Herlihy urged a single fully scoped request, saying he would "hate for something to, in plain sight, have happened, where we're waiting for the second phase in the budget." Schools also asked the committee to match a $362,000 state PRISM grant for a new pre-K-3 reading curriculum. Facilities flagged roughly $1 million in newly surveyed elementary fire alarm rewiring and a $1 million, three-year middle school ceiling replacement. A $2.5 million high school baseball field rebuild remains parked in fiscal 2030, complicated by a planned septic project on the same footprint. The committee unanimously approved its Dec. 4 minutes and meets again Dec. 17.