Lynn elementary schools running out of room

LYNN – The public school space crunch shows no signs of easing, warned Superintendent Catherine Latham, who said additional learning space must be found for two more elementary schools.Latham declined to identify the schools on Friday, but School Committee member Patricia Capano said Ingalls School, with its student enrollment listed in an October report at 750 students, “is pretty tight.”Harrington ranks second in enrollment with 622 students, according to the October report, and Cobbet has 594 students.Latham said she is “looking at everything” to identify ways to reduce overcrowding and said expanding enrollment in the Commercial Street early childhood center is an option, but not the only possible solution.”We’re going to need more classrooms. The early childhood center may need to expand to relieve pressure off some schools,” she said.School officials opened the center in September with about 250 kindergartners traveling by bus on schools days from Tracy, Ford and Brickett schools to the 90 Commercial St. building. Committee member John Ford said the center probably has room for expansion, but added school officials need to identify all possible space options.Capano said the center is getting good reviews from teachers and parents.”It’s going incredibly well – principals are going to want their school to be the school that goes over there,” she said.Committee member Rick Starbard said the city needs a West and East Lynn early childhood center to expand pre-kindergarten programs and provide additional space for kindergartens for schools facing overcrowding.Committee members approved opening the Commercial Street center last April after Latham and school principals warned about first-grade classroom overcrowding in the Brickett, Ford and Tracy schools. Latham proposed moving kindergartens in the three schools to Commercial Street to free up classrooms in the schools and prevent first-grade overcrowding.”The center is going incredibly well,” Capano said.Starbard suggested an East Lynn center could be built on Porter Street where Marshall Middle School is located. Construction on a new Marshall is scheduled to start next year with the new school’s opening date planned for 2016. Current plans call for tearing down the existing school.Starbard praised the Commercial Street center and said Lynn Vocational Technical Institute students interested in early childhood education careers are getting training opportunities there.”It’s a great program,” Starbard said.