School officials review plans to replace middle school lottery with neighborhood districts

By Barbara Taormina

City Planning and Community Development Director Tom Skwierawski met with the School Committee this week to review preliminary plans for a neighborhood middle school program.

Revere Public Schools Supt. Dr. Dianne Kelly said the change was meant to end the middle school lottery, which no one seems to like. However, the School Committee eliminated bus transportation for the high school and middle school students who live less than two miles from their school due to a budget shortfall in the district’s transportation budget and the exploding cost of bussing. Committee members were concerned about the risks of young students walking through the city being inundated with speeding traffic, highways and train stations.

Skwierawski has been working with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council on maps and population data to divide the city into three middle school districts built around the Garfield, Rumney Marsh and Susan B Anthony Schools. He said natural boundaries, such as roads and train tracks, were considered when drawing the districts. Skwierawski said the three options on the table more than double the number of students within one mile of a middle school. Under the current middle school lottery system, 442 students live more than two miles from school, but under the new neighborhood school design there will be fewer than 100 students two miles out.

Skwierawski said demographic, ethnic and academic data was analyzed to ensure the city’s middle school program was fair and equitable. The one area that showed disproportionate percentages was related to students who fall into the category of English Language Learners. Under the new options, 42 percent of the students at Garfield will be ELL students, 33 percent at Rumney Marsh and 24 percent at Susan B. Anthony.

“The data is preliminary,” said Skwierawski. “We are working to make sure districts are accurate…We will have schools that look like our neighborhoods, which look like our city.”

Mayor Patrick Keefe, chairman of the School Committee, said not everyone will be happy with the new middle school districts. “There will always be five people who are not happy and whose lives are being upended by the change.” But Keefe stressed the committee needs to do what’s best for most students.

Dr. Kelly said the School Department will host an evening event to hear from parents about the options during the first or second week in January. Skwierawski hopes to present the finalized options to the committee in January for a vote.