It's Almost Decision Time For The Beebe School

MELROSE, MA — A decision on the fate of the Beebe School could come within a month. But there's a lot to be discussed between now and a School Committee vote on Dec. 10 — not to mention outside circumstances that could make whole issue moot for the near future.

The school space is key to giving the district some breathing room while enrollment continues to rise. While the city has kept ownership of the school since moving it offline, actually bringing it back into the fold was a major point of April's override.

The primary options on the table are turning the Beebe into a K-5 school or into a pre-K/K school that would feed first grades classes in other schools. Both options look to make use of the 12 classrooms and two speciality spaces in the Beebe.

In the K-5 scenario, there would be two classes for each grade, while one speciality space would be used for art/music and the other as a library.

In the pre-K/K scenario, there would no longer be kindergarten classes in elementary schools. The Beebe would have seven kindergarten classes, five pre-K classes, one specialist classroom and one space for service delivery.

(These are broad looks at the options. Learn more about the Beebe School decision and its potential outcomes from this Oct. 29 School Committee agenda.)

The language used in the pre-K/K presentation appears far more favorable than that used in describing the K-5 one. The former appears to have listed reasons of why it's the better option (lessening disruptions to current students, more cost efficient,) while the latter is listed alongside challenges (how to push through involuntary reassignment, not sufficiently reducing teacher:student ratio.)

Superintendent Cyndy Taymore declined an opportunity to comment on the options via email.

A key variable is whether the city can break its lease with the Beebe's current occupant. The SEEM Collaborative, which pays $250,000 a year for the space, would break the lease if it can find another home by mid-winter. If the SEEM can't find a new space, the Beebe would remain occupied.

The lease ends in 2021. Some city officials have indicated to Patch there could be a benefit to having to wait — with more time could come a more beneficial option, they argued.

Whatever happens, the next step after selecting a plan and ending the lease will be to bring the school back online. Updating the building, which has been out of the district's use for more than 15 years, will cost several hundred thousand dollars.

The public can give input at the Nov. 19 School Committee meeting.