Two School Options On The Table For State Aid

As it now stands, if the town wants 45 percent of the bill footed by the state to meet Swampscott's elementary school building needs it, ultimately, will have to vote to build a new Grades 1-4 school.  

The school would serve some 635 Swampscott students, the entire population of public school kids in town for grades 1-4.

And the new school would be either on the Stanley School property or the Middle School property.

School Building Committee members, project designer Al Cuevas of the Mount Vernon Group, and the school's project manager Paul Kalous of Collaborative Partners answered questions and took comments from residents Tuesday night at the first of three public forums at the high school.

A chief concern of several speakers including Heather Roman addressed the timeline and limited options under the state aid program.

Also, several people who live near the possible new all-town elementary school sites said traffic and parking there would cause major disruptions. 

The timeline under the town's application with the state calls for the School Building Committee to select and send an option — either the Stanley or Middle School sites —  to the Massachusetts School Building Authority by the end of this month.

The building authority would then decide whether to accept the Swampscott school selection by the end of November. If accepted, the state would then study and tweak the proposal before determining the total amount of reimbursement the state would provide for the prject.

That determination would come in March.

Following this the town would have 120 days to accept the state aid and fund the town's share of the project.

Several speakers on Tuesday were concerned that once the School Building Committee selects an option at the end of this month, the dye would be cast and there would effectively be no other option on the table.

At least no other option for which the state would be willing to help pay under the current round of funding.  

Joe Crimmins of the school building committee said Swampscott voters would still have the option of voting down the project.

But speakers countered that the voters would be faced with the prospect of supporting a program that received funding or getting nothing and having to fund a future project in its entirety.

School officials said previously that if Swampscott turned down the state aid proposal then getting accepted as a candidate for a later round of funding would by no means be a given.

On Tuesday Assistant Superintendent Pamela Angealkis opened the forum stating the reasons the town needs to act now on its elementary school needs.

First, and foremost, is the opportunity to help get a needed project paid for.
She said the existing elementary facilities are obsolete — built between 88-102 years ago — and a new school will serve students' education needs and increase safety and handicap accesibility.

Resident Ted Smith voiced concerns about traffic and wetlands impacts if the Stanley School site is built upon.

Resident Diana Caplan was concerned about traffic and parking at the Middle School. She said surrounding streets are already burdened and that adding a 635-student elementary school to the site would make thd problem much worse.

Resident Patrick Jones, an architect, said a single campus for students in grades 1-8 at the Middle School property would have benefits for kids' education.

Under the single elementary school proposal, Swampscott's pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students would attend Clarke School.

The second forum is Thursday at 7 p.m. at the high school and the third forum is Wednesday, Sept. 18, also at the high school.