Langlois talks overcrowding in Saugus schools; superintendent search begins

SAUGUS – Superintendent Richard Langlois updated the School Committee Thursday night on some “concerning” issues regarding overcrowding at Saugus schools.Langlois said enrollment at the Veterans Memorial Elementary School will see a spike at grades one, two and four, and discussed the possibility of moving incoming first-graders to a different school.?It?s time for kids moving toward grade one at the Veterans to maybe move some of those streets or lines over to the Oaklandvale,” said Langlois.Langlois also said there isn?t enough classroom space at the Belmonte Middle School to accommodate the entire incoming fifth-grade class.?This will impact transportation, student arrival and we?ll need more staff to accommodate the move,” said Langlois.Langlois said he?s also looking at the Evans School to house kindergarten, which would require moving staff around from different schools.?There?s no perfect picture in what we want to do,” he said. “We don?t have the money to add the positions.”The committee discussed whether the town should put out a request for proposals for use of the Evans School.School Committee Chairman Wendy Reed said the school needs too much work to bring it up to code, but noted they need to keep all options open.?We need an elementary school,” she said. “We are busting at the seams and we need elementary space.”Langlois also updated the committee on the statement of interest for a new high school. Langlois said Town Manager Scott Crabtree authorized him to access the Massachusetts School Building Authority online application to fill out. Langlois said he?ll be meeting with Crabtree and other school officials to work through the process.In other business, Reed said the superintendent has submitted a letter of resignation to the School Committee and will start in Marlborough on July 1. She said the committee has posted advertisements for a replacement and will start screening applications on March 28.Reed said anyone interested in serving on the search committee should send a letter of interest to the administration building.The committee also voted for a middle school waiver to allow eighth-graders to play high school baseball and softball, and seventh- and eighth-graders to play high school golf, and voted to increase all day kindergarten fees to $2,400, or $2,100 if paid in full.The committee also accepted a gift from Saugus Business Education Collaborative to purchase nine laptop computers for the Veterans School.Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].