School Dept. may close North School
Published on March 29th, 2000
STONEHAM, MA - Closing of the North School is the latest budget related issue that the Stoneham School Committee is grappling with, and a meeting with current and future North School families, as well as with abutters to the Collincote Street school, is being held on Wednesday, March 29, to discuss the possibility.
At last Thursday's School Committee meeting, School Superintendent Dr. Joseph Connelly reported that the town has indicated that the maximum level of funding it can appropriate to the schools for fiscal year 2001 is $18,650,000.
This figure is nearly $11,000 over the proposed draft 3 budget presented at the March 9 School Committee meeting. However, budget drafts to this point have not included any figures for salary negotiations. Currently, the School Committee is negotiating with seven unions.
Connelly suggested therefore that the committee take advantage of the $11,000 difference and apply it to the negotiations.
"..but obviously the $11,000 will not be enough to meet our obligations for the next school year."
Options for reallocating funds are thus the current focus, and the closing and renting out of North School is one of the strategies the committee is considering.
The $18,650,000 figure proposed by the town represents a five percent increase over the last budget. A large chunk of that increase, however, is comprised of one-time additional costs to reopen the new South School, along with increases in health insurance costs.
"The budget holders and principals have done a terrific job getting us to this five percent increase when you stop and realize that three and a half percent (of the five percent increase) was impacted just by these two things," Connelly said.
Connelly recently met with North School staff to discuss the possibility of closing the building and moving the programs elsewhere. According to North School Principal Maureen Burke, her staff's main concern is that the integrity of the programs be maintained, wherever they are offered.
North School offers regular preschool programs to three- and four-year-olds as well as integrated programs for special needs preschool students.
Both South School principal Paula Sline and Robin Hood School Principal Maureen Solely have been receptive to the possibilities of moving the preschool programs to their schools. According to Connelly, if North School closes, the integrated program would likely move to South School, while Robin Hood School would house the conventional preschool programs. Once all four new elementary schools are open, location and number of preschool programs may need to be revisited.
Since the town embarked on rebuilding its elementary schools, each of which is designed for preschool through grade five, School Committee member Mary Pecoraro stated, "I think people already understand that there will be movement of kids and programs...I think they understood this would be happening."
Committee member Stephen Gucciardi stated that he would not support any decision until a public meeting was held. To exclude public input, he said, may result in making a decision absent all the facts and "...would be a significant deviation of our past practices."
With preschool registration imminent, the committee decided to hold a public meeting of concerned preschool parents, abutters and other community members this week.
Connelly stated that interest in the building has already been expressed by two or three parties but added that, if the decision is made to close North School, rental commitments need to be made soon.
"I will only vote to have a school in a school...I don't want to be a landlord to a business," stated Committee Chairwoman Jeanne Craigie, referring to problems the school department has experienced with renting out the East School on Beacon Street to the VNA which grew larger than expected.
Craigie stated that the committee should be ready to take an action following Wednesday night's 7:30 p.m. meeting.
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