Grossman: New Pickering will be built

LYNN – Its ceilings are peeling and water has damaged its stairwell walls, but Pickering Middle School enjoys the strong local support needed to send it down the state school construction approval pipeline, said state Treasurer Steven Grossman.Grossman toured Pickering Tuesday and said the “unanimous sense of urgency” among Lynn leaders and residents that secured initial state approval for the $92 million Marshall Middle School project can also make a new Pickering a reality.?It?s not a question of whether this project gets into the pipeline, it?s a question of when it gets in,” Grossman said.Construction on a new school to replace the existing 90-year-old Marshall is set to start next year. Local educators want Pickering, built in 1917, to be next on the city?s school replacement list with the aging Cobbett and Tracy schools to follow.?Kids want to succeed and we owe it to the kids to give them an environment where they can be successful,” Pickering Principal Kevin Rittershaus told Grossman.Grossman is a Democratic candidate for governor and chairman of the state School Building Authority board of directors, and he spent more time talking to Pickering students and teachers during Tuesday?s tour than assessing the school?s dilapidated state.He listened as teacher Dena Coffey?s sixth-graders talked about how they would like a school outfitted with a library and air conditioning. Built into a hillside off Broadway, Pickering?s walls fall prey to moisture seeping in from underground. The result, said city Inspectional Services Director Michael Donovan, is deteriorating walls and peeling paint.?It?s discouraging with the school in such poor condition,” said teacher Briana Cennami.She has worked in Pickering for eight years and hopes plans to replace Marshall with a new, 1,100-student building on Brookline Avenue can be duplicated with Pickering.?Now that Marshall?s on that pathway, I?m pretty confident,” Cennami said.School Committee member Charlie Gallo said building conditions in Pickering “are far below” what the school?s hard-working teachers and students deserve. Grossman agreed and said top-quality schools educate top-quality students.?We?re really trying to educate citizenship with the goal of aiming high and dreaming big,” he said.Grossman wants every Massachusetts public school “digital-ready” by 2016 with wireless capability for students using 21st-century technology. School Superintendent Catherine Latham said the opportunity to build new schools locally is also an opportunity to outfit them with programs like home economics programs like sewing as well as graphic arts and music.?Those are the programs that keep students in school,” Latham said.