Board: Portable classrooms at Lynn elementary school OK for use

LYNN – Thirty-nine needy children will have a place to go each day after school lets out as a result of Tuesday’s action by the City Council’s Public Property Committee.John Mogielnicki, executive director of Lynn Economic Opportunity, Inc. (LEO), requested that children enrolled in the organization’s after-school program be allowed to use the portable classrooms on the grounds of the Robert L. Ford Elementary School in the Highlands.”We were concerned that the buildings might be demolished,” said attorney Samuel Vitali, representing LEO at the committee meeting.According to Vitali, the elementary school at 49 Hollingsworth St. has transferred students to other facilities around the city, leaving the portable classrooms in less demand.”Believe me, we can use them,” said Mogielnicki. “These classrooms give the kids a program to attend during school vacation and every day after school.”The 39 children in the LEO after-school program at Ford Elementary are between 5 and 12 years old.”Right now we have 350 kids in our pre-school program and at any given time we also have 700 to 800 on our waiting list,” Mogielnicki said.Vitali explained that LEO hired an architect to inspect the portable classrooms. “They’re in good shape,” he said.LEO partners with Head Start and other social programs to ensure the welfare and nutrition of the community’s neediest children, as well as providing fuel assistance.The Public Property Committee voted unanimously in favor of the measure.