LYNNFIELD — A new committee will address school crowding issues before it becomes a crisis.
Selectmen are looking for volunteers for the School Enrollment and Capacity Exploration Committee, which will gather and analyze data on school enrollment projections.
School Committee Chairman Timothy Doyle said the committee will give school and town officials data to react to school enrollment and population issues. The genesis of the new group comes from recent budget discussions between school officials and selectmen in which an additional first grade teacher was requested due to an increase in students at the Summer Street Elementary School.
“This may not be isolated to one school,” said Doyle. “It may be the addition of classrooms, it may be redistricting. There’s a whole host of solutions out there that need to be considered before (selectmen) go to the town and say ‘hey, we need to do something with the schools.'”
With an increase in first grade students expected at Summer Street next year, an additional first grade teacher was requested for the school, bringing the total to five. Superintendent Jane Tremblay said the position is need to keep class sizes in the first grade at the school within acceptable levels.
This year, there are 91 kindergarten students at Summer Street, and the superintendent said there is typically a 10 percent increase in students between kindergarten and first grade.
“If population continues to grow, we have to react,” said Doyle. “I don’t have any data telling me it is going to be horrific next year or the following year. But enrollment is widely erratic so you can’t attach yourself to any trends except for when you have kindergarten students moving to first grade.”
Total school enrollment has typically fluctuated between 2,100 and 2,200 students over the past decade, according to school officials.
In addition to the bump in students at Summer Street, the enrollment concerns are being driven by several new housing developments on Main Street and Route 1.
“As we move forward with this unknown bubble of new students coming into the schools, the concern is magnified by the 220 units being proposed on Main Street and another 60-plus units on Route 1,” said Selectman Phil Crawford. “What that means for the town is that most likely there will be another bubble in five or six years. I think this is a worthwhile endeavor to look at this and get ahead of things.”
Selectmen are looking for two parent and one community member to serve on the new committee. Interested residents should contact Bob Curtin, assistant to the town administrator, at [email protected].
Representatives from the Board of Selectmen, School Committee, Capital Facilities Committee and Finance Committee will be joined by the superintendent, town administrator, and public works director.
“We want to make sure we provide the very best for our students, in and out of the classroom,” said selectmen Chairman Christopher Barrett.
