WOBURN - It is often warned that those who forget history are bound to repeat it.

But perhaps equally as important, those who remember history not only have the power to steer the future away from past tragedies, but also to repeat previous triumphs and victories.

And nowhere is that perhaps more true than with the sure to-be coming debate in 2006 over the future of the educational system's aging infrastructure.

As the hulkish building casts a shadow upon its doomed predecessor, the new Woburn Memorial High School, which is slated to open in the summer of 2006, will certainly serve as an example of what can be accomplished when implementing a sound construction project.

And with the new rules and regulations for a revitalized School Building Assistance program expected to be released in 2006, Woburn's citizens certainly have much to discuss about the city's educational future.

According to outgoing Mayor John Curran and several school officials who sat-in on discussions for the feasibility study, achieving parity is the only way in which all students can be equally served across the city.

However, that approach, which is widely expected to call for the consolidation of several neighborhood schools — including the Wyman, Clapp, and Linscott buildings — city residents and officials will have to decide what's more important to the community, the character of neighborhood schools or creating equally sized and equipped facilities.

The new Woburn Memorial High School

Even as discussions heat up about future construction projects, school officials will likely have to find a way to properly maintain and staff the new WMHS, which dwarfs the institution it's replacing.

In an argument repeatedly hashed-out by School Committee member Joseph Crowley, the city can't continue to erect new structures while ignoring those facilities that are already standing.

Against that advice, the School Committee pulled approximately $45,000 worth of funding from its capital account during FY06 budget deliberations.

With board members arguing that $45,000 would hardly address even the simplest of capital repairs amongst the city's schools — which included a need for $200,000 to replace the two middle schools' auditorium seats — that decision to pull the small pool of capital funding almost blew up in the committee's face, as the Wyman School required roof repairs that cost an estimated $45,000.

In the end, Mayor John Curran and the City Council agreed to fund the appropriation for the emergency repairs, but with the White School and Woburn Memorial High School both operational next year, a debate over how to properly maintain those facilities will likely occur.

The FY07 Budget

Constituting the largest threat to creating a city-wide or school department capital account capable of maintaining educational buildings old and new, next years round of budget talks is likely to be filled with another round of difficult decisions.

With last November's defeat of Mayor John Curran by Mayor-Elect Thomas McLaughlin largely attributed to a citizen revolution against soaring property taxes, the School Committee will probably be faced with a mandate to create a level-funded budget for FY07.

However, with soaring SPED, health insurance, utility, and negotiated salary costs, the four-headed school-budget monster could force the School Committee to cut into already strained educational supply, transportation, salary, and athletic accounts.

Last year, the School Committee did everything in its power to avoid teaching/staff layoffs, instituting athletic fees, or completely eliminating student busing services (although the Wyman route was slashed).

Whether that feat can be accomplished again remains to be seen.

Student Services and Performance

Whether or not the School Committee finds itself slashing educational services, the group has already made a commitment to completely rehashing the district's health curriculum.

In addition, with MCAS math scores at the city's middle schools remaining a top priority, and the district as a whole being slated as needs improvement based upon No Child Left Behind Act standards, administrators will continue to labor toward shoring up academic performance.

At the onset of January 2005, the school community mourned the death of WMHS Senior Cassandra Donovan, who perished in a car-crash attributed by police to drunk driving.

The alleged operator of that vehicle, 18-year-old Mt. Pleasant Court resident Sean M. Dyer, is currently awaiting trial in Superior Court on charges of motor vehicle homicide while under the influence.

Meanwhile, WMHS Principal Bob Norton, reeling from the second student death from alcohol-related causes in a year, organized a student-run advocacy group called LEARN in the immediate aftermath of the crash.

The group, which charged into action by meeting with high school students and middle schoolers to speak about poor decision making, continues its efforts to spread its message across the city.

Although extremely proud of those efforts, Norton met with the School Committee at the onset of the current school year to lobby for a complete write-over of the district's health curriculum.

According to Supt. Dr. Carl Batchelder, that plan is widely expected to be released this year, along with other district-wide policies governing overall student nutrition and wellness.