Evaluation first step for Swampscott school

SWAMPSCOTT – Evaluators will tour the Hadley Elementary School later this month in what Superintendent Lynne Celli said was the first step of determining whether the state will partially fund a new elementary school for the town. Ironically, Celli reported the news after noting that crumbling decorative concrete on the 100-year-old school’s eaves had required configuring temporary entrances twice since school opened last week.”(The visit) is the very first step in what might be a very long process,” Celli told the school committee at their Wednesday night meeting. “It’s a first step and we’re very excited.”In 2008, the School Master Plan Committee recommended closing Hadley and renovating the Clarke Elementary School to become an early childhood education center, as the Item previously reported. The town could either raze the Stanley Elementary School or renovate it, either way creating a new elementary school serving all students in the town, the plan said.Last winter, the district submitted a statement of interest to the Massachusetts School Building Authority in order to apply for partial state funding for a future elementary school, Celli explained. District officials could choose only one building to base their application and selected the Hadley School as the most deficient.The state’s interest in Swampscott – it was selected from 182 districts that submitted similar statements of interest – does not assure a new school, however, officials emphasized.”It’s very likely that they could say we recommend a $10 million renovation on Hadley,” explained District Budget Director Ed Cronin. The town is also required to accept the state’s recommendation in order to be eligible for money from the state, he and Celli confirmed.Furthermore, any new project will require the town’s financial assistance. Celli said the state won’t pay for the entire project and a key component of receiving state aid is demonstrating a town commitment to maintaining existing buildings.”The best possible case is they’ll fund (part of) one new building and the town comes up with a contribution to fund the rest and make the capital improvements” cited in the Master Plan, Celli said. “It’s not good to show them and make them say, “Oh my God, it’s falling apart.”Therefore, she reported that a structural engineer determined the school’s crumbling concrete has no structural impact and repairs are scheduled as soon as recent rainstorms clear.