Lynn, Swampscott schools still considering partnership plan

LYNN-The Lynn and Swampscott school departments are still considering a partnership between the two communities, but officials have yet to develop a concrete plan of action.Lynn Superintendent Nicholas Kostan said Wednesday that he and a few staff members from different schools in the city met with Swampscott Superintendent Matthew Malone last month to re-hash talks of a future partnership.Malone and Kostan met in July, but nothing came of the initial discussion other than a few ideas to mull over during the summer vacation months.Kostan said the latest meeting between the two garnered similar results, but the possibility that the two school departments could collaborate both in and out of the classroom in the future remains strong.”We spoke a lot in generalities,” said Kostan. “We have nothing concrete, everything is preliminary at this point. We just talked about what potential link we could have with our neighbors and we will see if anything comes of it.”A potential partnership could include sharing resources such as Lynn’s vocational department, and combining on textbook and supply purchases.The School Committee approved the dates of two professional development days on Wednesday, and avoided a potential polling conflict during the national election in the process.Because two of the city’s high schools are used as polling places during the election, the second high school staff development day will be held on the date of the election, Tuesday, Nov. 4, giving high school students the full day off from school.In addition, Lynn English High School will have a half-day on Sept. 16, the date of the primary election.Students in grades K-8 will have their second professional development day on Tuesday, Oct. 7. This will also be a full day off for students.School Business Administrator Kevin McHugh told the School Committee that unemployment costs should start to go down this year as more and more employees are returning to work.McHugh said there were 120 employees receiving unemployment checks during the last pay cycle, but that number has already been reduced by 41 employees with the start of the new school year. This should save the department money going forward.The School Department has already started assigning the 10 teachers set aside this summer to ease overcrowding problems as preliminary enrollment numbers begin to roll in.Kostan presented enrollment figures at each school to the School Committee Wednesday, but warned that the numbers will change over the next few weeks as late enrollments, transfers and schedule changes are worked out.The district has already assigned three and a half teaching positions from the wait list to classes that were in immediate need of relief during the first few days of school.One teacher was added to the third grade at the Ford Elementary School, another was added to the second grade at Sewell-Anderson and a third is headed to the Tracy School’s first grade.One half-position was created at the Marshall Middle School, which was in need of a reading specialist.Kostan said he would continue to assign teachers to schools that need relief of overcrowding in the next few weeks.