School modules addressing overcrowding still headlines school board discussion

By Neil Zolot

The School Committee is ready to take on the issue of overcrowding head on. “Overcrowding is a districtwide issue,” member at-Large Samantha Hurley said at the School Committee meeting on Tuesday, February 27. “It has been for some time. After speaking with principals, teachers and guidance counselors, I believe no solution should be off the table. Every building has different needs and ideas to maximize space.”

She and other new members spoke with employees at the schools while touring the Adams, Lafayette and Webster Schools and the High School on February 9. “Every location is doing a fantastic job optimizing space in the buildings, but I think we can all agree how we are currently operating is not an ideal learning or working environment,” Hurley reacted to what she saw. “Hallway learning is distracting and, even though they are spacious, converted utility closets are not ideal spaces. Some have no windows or glass on their doors because they were closets.”

She also said some of the temporary modules being used at Webster lack running water, bathrooms or well circulated air. “Webster has modules extended from the back of the main building,” Hurley reported. “They were originally installed as a temporary solution, hence no direct plumbing. Students and staff have to go into the main building to use restrooms, which was stressed to be an inconvenience.”

Nevertheless, she praised teachers for “making the best of these situations and creating warm and welcoming learning spaces. Kids don’t feel they’re out of place, but there is a sense of disjointedness.”

The use of modular units were topics of discussion at the September 11 and 25 City Council meetings last year. In the latter, $150,000 of American Rescue Plan Act funds was appropriated to hire an Owner’s Project Manager to study using them. Mayor Carlo DeMaria hopes they can be in place at various schools in September, although topography will make it impossible at the Devens School and High School. He touted their use at colleges.

Everett is one of the very few school systems with kindergarten to 8th grade neighborhood schools, although at one time the Parlin School was a junior high school. The 2019 closure of Pope John XXIII High School, now owned by the City of Everett and slated for housing, and the age of the old Everett High School on Broadway, now being used for preschool and other programs, prompted the building of the current High School in 2007 and eventually led to K-8 neighborhood schools.

Saugus, on the other hand, opened a new Middle/High School complex in 2020, converted their Middle School to a townwide upper elementary school, and one elementary school to a townwide lower elementary school and closed their neighborhood schools. Marblehead opened their new High School in 2002, converted the old High School into a Middle School, converted the original Middle School/Junior High into a townwide upper elementary school and recently consolidated the lowest grades into two elementary schools.

The long-term plan for Everett is to build a new High School at Rivergreen Park, complete with a vocational program, and presumably convert the current High School into a Middle School, but the funding, approval and building process could take years, if it happens at all.

Last September 25, Councillor-at-Large Stephanie Smith noted, “I haven’t heard one person say they want modules.”

She wondered if the vacant Pope John could be used instead. “I love the long-term plan. It’s the short-term plan I disagree with,” she said.

September 11, in Public Participation, Margaret Cornelio said, “People don’t want the modules. They look terrible and will make our city look run down.”

She now represents Ward 1 on the School Committee. “We need to start pursuing feasible ways to address overcrowding,” she said on February 27. “We have to have a discussion to find a concrete solution. A tangible solution is long overdue.”

The members approved her suggestion to discuss the matter further at the March 18 meeting.

“This has to be a collaborative conversation with the City Council,” Vice Chairperson Samantha Lambert feels. “I’ve asked the City Council to create a School Study Commission, not just address our needs now, but so we can look ahead for funding opportunities. The School Committee and administration don’t control capital. The City Council and administration does.”

“This is a great time to start collaborating to address this worsening situation,” Hurley agreed. “Every school sees a probability of more students coming in.”

In other matters, the projected Fiscal Year 2025 tuition for 15 Everett students of the SEEM Collaborative in Stoneham is $1,501,160. That is $51,120 (3.52%) higher than the Fiscal Year 2024 tuition of $1,450,440.

SEEM uses public funds to educate students who can’t be educated in their home district because the support they need isn’t offered. Although not used as a name anymore, SEEM originally stood for Special Education of Education Mutual. It has 11 member communities, which are Lynnfield, Melrose, North Andover, North Reading, Reading, Saugus, Stoneham, Wilmington, Winchester and Woburn. Programs are offered at schools in Lynnfield, Melrose, Stoneham, Wakefield and Wilmington. There are also 48 non-member communities, including Chelsea, Malden and Revere along with Everett.

The total projected Fiscal Year 2025 Budget is $36,801,722, up $899,949 (2.51%) from $35,901,773 in Fiscal 2024. Tuition will comprise 62.76% of SEEM’s revenue. Member community tuitions will total $4,409, 280 (12%), while non-member community tuitions are $18,687,200 (51%). “In accordance with the SEEM mission, the budget reflects the goals to exercise fiscal responsibility to minimize expenses while maximizing services and exist as a viable option to school districts by attracting and retaining qualified staff while offering competitive salary and benefits,” reads their Fiscal 2025 Budget Highlights report.

Both the Fiscal Year 2024 and 2025 budget are balanced, with revenue equaling expenses, dovetailing with the goal to “use methodology to determine tuition and fee for service rates based on determining projected expenses and projected enrollment and then establishing tuition and fees at a level that will generate enough revenue to cover projected expenses.”

In Fiscal 2023 $32,958, 931 in revenue exceeded $32,731,346 in expenses.