Swampscott Takes First Steps Toward New Schools

SWAMPSCOTT – On Wednesday night, Pamela Angelakis, Swampscott’s Superintendent of Schools, asked the Swampscott Board of Selectmen and Swampscott School Committee to vote to support the first step in securing the state funding for the construction of a new school in Swampscott.

The School Committee voted yes, 5 to 0, but a date for the Board of Selectmen to vote has not been formally set as of Thursday.

The Board of Selectmen and School Committee were asked to vote in favor of submitting two Statements of Interest to the Massachusetts School Building Authority. This is the beginning of the process to determine whether the town will be eligible for significant funding from the state to offset the cost of a new school. The primary Statement of Interest relates to the Hadley Elementary School while a secondary relates to the Swampscott Middle School.

In November 2015, Superintendent Angelakis presented to the School Committee her leadership team’s Educational Vision for the Swampscott Public Schools – which among many other details, concluded that grade-level consolidation was a critical academic, curricular, and developmentally appropriate model in education. In support of this finding, the Superintendent and her team cited significant programming, technological, collaborative, educational, and professional efficiencies that will be gained with grade-level consolidation.

Approval and filing of the Statement of Interests with the MSBA represents the first formal step towards the construction of a new school. In the fall of 2014 support of a previously proposed new school fell 19 votes short of the two-thirds approval required. In March 2015, on the heels of that vote, the Superintendent brought together a large task force of town residents and officials, representing both those against and in favor of the prior proposal, to help the Superintendent and her team strengthen the Educational Vision and re-evaluate the capacity of the town’s existing school facilities to accommodate the educational needs of our children. This process, which continues today, has included over 20 meetings, sub task force meetings, tours of the elementary schools, and tours of recently built schools in surrounding communities.

"I started as Superintendent in Swampscott at the tail end of the prior new school discussion. It was clear to me then, as it is, now that any successful school building plan requires a comprehensive educational vision and strong community support behind it. We did not have that last time around." Superintendent Angelakis said. "Bringing together stakeholders from all over the town and working with them over the past 2 years has been invaluable and will lead to a much better result for our children and the taxpayers."

"With the filing of the Statements of Interest with the MSBA we are showing the state that we now have a comprehensive vision for the future of education in Swampscott. The School Committee unanimously supports this vision," said Carin Marshall, Chair of the Swampscott School Committee. "While the Hadley School is the oldest, there is no denying that each of our elementary schools are significantly deficient in terms of the learning space, technology, and safety and security that our teachers and children need to be successful. Starting the MSBA process is the formal start of a process that will allow us to remedy the situation for all elementary students. Our students and teacher deserve so much more than what we are able to provide in our current elementary schools."

"Until last month when the task force took tours of all three elementary schools, I had not been inside either Stanley School or Clarke School beyond the gym or library," stated Selectmen Peter Spellios, a member of the task force whose children all attend or attended the Hadley School. "I was aware of the very bad physical condition of the building at Hadley, such as the roof, boilers, and leaks, but I had no idea of the problems with the facilities at the other schools. The administrators and teachers do an amazing job making our kids feel safe and secure, and providing them good education. Feeling safe and secure, however, is not the same as being safe and secure. Students at Stanley are learning art and computers in converted locker rooms – there are literally showers in these rooms. The Stanley library is woefully undersized and reconfigured to do triple duty as library, music room and sensory space. Students at Clarke use every square foot of the building for learning – including hallways and even the vestibule of the newly constructed lift for physical therapy services. In a couple of classrooms, space is shared simultaneously by different groups of learners. I also had no idea that for the past 19 years, classes at Clarke have been held in a double wide trailer located next to the building. This needs to change."

Even though the Statements of Interest will be filed with the MSBA by April 7 the town does not anticipate a response until November at the earliest. Assuming the MSBA accepts Swampscott into the funding round, the process of exploring and discussing potential new school locations will begin.

"We all realize that Swampscott is very small with very little land available for a new school. We also realize the existing stress the taxpayer feels in this town. It is important to me that the process for selecting a new school location involve the whole community and that we find the most cost effective solution to this problem," said Angelakis. "I have had some great conversations with our new Town Administrator, Sean Fitzgerald, and members of the Board of Selectmen about next steps and I am confident that together we will be able to create a very comprehensive process that achieves these goals. It will be a very thorough, collaborative and transparent discussion and decision. I do not anticipate any decision being made or presented to Town Meeting and the residents until 2018 at the earliest."

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