School overcrowding a new Revere concern

REVERE – Overcrowding in the Revere public school system was a major topic at Tuesday night?s school committee meeting.Superintendent Dr. Paul Dakin was heavily concerned about the increase in population the schools have seen in just one year. It is estimated that there are 340 new students in the system. This time last year there were only 200 new students.?It impacts the schools hugely,” Dakin told the committee. “We have to run out and get more furniture. It impacts the lottery system. It impacts everything.”While Revere is on track to build McKinley Middle School in the next couple of years, Dakin believes that Revere will need another school built to meet the growing population demands. “The community has to take to task the sins of the past,” Dakin said. “We did not take into consideration growth in population at the schools.”Dakin insisted another school was needed. “We need another school,” he said. “This can not fall on deaf ears.”In other business, discussion about a new placement plan for middle school students was discussed. Over the past two years, the school committee has heard from several unhappy parents about their dislike for the current system in place. Currently, in Revere public schools a child is placed in a lottery to see where they will be attending middle school. Dakin believes it is time to take a closer look at the policy to see if it needs changing.?It seems like something is broken,” Dakin said.The superintendent presented several ideas to the school committee on different changes that could be made. The first was instating neighborhood schools. This idea was greeted with less than positive results from the committee.?I am not in favor for neighborhood schools,” School Committee member Carol Tye said. “I think it defeats everything we are trying to do and will negatively affect the high school.”Tye believes that neighborhood schools will make each middle school socioeconomic-based and by the time students get to the high school, they will not know how to interact with different types of students. “It is such a pleasure to see all kinds of students interact with each other from different religions and different backgrounds,” Tye said. “This world doesn?t operate in your own socioeconomic world. You need to work with all different types of people.”School Committee member Donna Wood Pruitt agreed with Tye. Pruitt grew up in Revere on Shirley Avenue in a time when Revere did have neighborhood schools. “Shirley Ave., that was my life,” Pruitt said. “I didn?t even know Broadway existed. It was a different way of life. It is just wrong and not a good mix for the schools.”Another option discussed was to make the three middle schools for specific grades only. “For example, the Susan B. Anthony School be only for sixth-graders, the Rumney Marsh Middle School only for seventh-graders and so on and so forth,” Dakin said. “Any combination will work.”The superintendent admits that some people could have a problem with this plan. “Some people will say that it is not right to make kids change schools each year,” Dakin said.Another option is to keep the current lottery system intact. “The current system might be the best one when you start looking at the other possibilities,” Dakin said. “We need to listen to other voices who think the current system is the best one in place. There could be a silent majority.”School committee member Michael Ferrante urged the committee to keep open lines of communication with Revere parents. “We have to keep parents involved. They need to be involved,” Ferrante said. Ferrante suggested that they send out a survey to see what options parents like best.The school committee said that this will be a year-long discussion to find the best solution. “Each one of these plans have flaws and pluses,” Dakin said. “None of these plans will satisfy everyone.”