LYNN — The Lynn School Committee voted Thursday night to submit a statement of interest to the state for replacement of the 103-year-old Pickering Middle School.
This is the city’s third attempt to replace Pickering with a new school. The first was voted down in a 2017 special election, and the second was a rejected statement of interest in 2018.
The committee also voted to submit statements for “accelerated repair” projects at three other schools: replacement of the main windows and doors at Lynn Vocational Technical Institute, a roof replacement at Shoemaker Elementary School, and a boiler replacement at Sewell-Anderson Elementary School.
The unanimous votes followed remarks from Chief Financial Officer Michael Bertino, who told the committee how the city planned to fund its portion of the potential $100 million new school.
If accepted into the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) program, the city would be reimbursed up to 80 percent for the new building and would take out a 30-year loan to pay for the remaining amount.
“Over the next four to five years, we will create enough budget space so at the end of five years, we will be able to afford our share of the school,” said Bertino, who assured the committee he was comfortable with the plan.
For the next five years, Bertino said the city would budget $450,000 to $500,000 for the new school each year, which will be used to pay off the long-term loan. That would prepare the city for its first loan payment of approximately $2 million, which would be due in four to five years when construction would be projected to start, he said.
School Committee Michael Satterwhite said he appreciated that the city didn’t plan to fund its portion of the potential new school with a debt override, but noted the plan would still impact taxpayers.
“Everyone should understand that this is still taxpayer money we’re using, just in a different way,” said Satterwhite. “We need community buy-in in order for this to be successful.”
Asking the voters to approve a debt override, which would have raised the average single-family tax bill by nearly $200 annually, was part of what doomed the last effort to replace Pickering Middle School. That two-school proposal was overwhelmingly rejected by voters in 2017.
Despite the optimism surrounding a renewed push for a new middle school Thursday, committee member John Ford had some sobering remarks.
“If we have a new school in five years, we (still) need four new schools now,” said Ford. “Something has to be done at the state level to bail us out. We have 12 schools now that are at least 100 years old … We’re in a real crisis.”
It would be at least four years before the city would begin to build a new school, while those 12 other schools would remain on “life support,” he said. While he credited the city’s Inspectional Services Department with maintaining dilapidated schools, he said it bothers him that the city keeps investing millions of dollars to renovate 100-year-old buildings.
“That’s just not feasible,” said Ford.
Mayor Thomas M. McGee said the state legislature has been discussing ways to provide relief for districts, such as Lynn, that have a significant need for new schools due to outdated infrastructure and an increasing student population.
Part of the problem, Bertino said, is the MSBA reimburses communities up to 80 percent for school construction and repairs, but in reality, that final percentage actually translates to about 65 percent, which presents a challenge for replacing additional schools.
“We need some relief from them because it really is a monumental task,” said Bertino. “We need to get a win. A win would be one new school. A double would be two new schools. A home run would be four new schools, but we have to start somewhere.”
