SAUGUS — The Saugus School Committee voted Thursday to move forward with a much-debated 2019 school configuration proposal that would move the second grade to Belmonte Middle School.
The 3-2 vote — delayed from March 12 due to the coronavirus pandemic — came after months of deliberation between town officials and teachers about whether the district should continue with a 2017 plan that grouped grades pre-K-2 at Veterans Memorial Elementary School and grades 3-5 at Belmonte Middle School, or follow a 2019 proposal that included second grade in the move to Belmonte.
Before voting, committee chair Thomas Whittredge acknowledged the district’s second grade teachers overwhelmingly supported a move that would keep their students in lower elementary, but said necessary building modifications to make such a move feasible were beyond the town’s budget.
“We’ve gone through every single option,” Whittredge said, visibly frustrated. “We spent the last month trying to figure out other options and keep (that) dream alive … but the Veterans is just too small. Every option we came up with added millions to the budget, and we don’t have millions. What we have is $25 million … and that’s all we have, period.”
In an anonymous survey conducted early last month by Saugus Educators Association President Rick Lavoie, 97.2 percent of the district’s 72 elementary school teachers preferred the original reconfiguration plans, and 80.6 percent believed moving second grade to the Belmonte would primarily be a cost-saving measure.
During a March 5 public forum, second grade teacher Christin Schulze — backed by several of her colleagues — read a letter to the board expressing worry that the newer proposal would place Saugus second graders in the wrong developmental bracket.
“Pre-K to grade two is laying the foundation for everything our kids need to be successful in third grade and beyond. If you research early childhood education, you will see it encompasses pre-K through grade two,” she said. “(Saugus’ second grade teachers) feel that if we’re not in the same building to plan, share resources, and suggestions about teaching and assessing students, we are doing our students an injustice.
“Their foundation will no longer be solid and our students will not be as successful as we know they could be.”
However, committee member Dennis Gould agreed with Whittredge that none of the town’s elementary school buildings are equipped to handle a pre-K through two configuration.
“If there was an alternative that somebody could give that could be done to keep (grades) one and two (together), I would do it,” he said. “But there isn’t … I can’t vote for something that can’t work.”
Committee members Ryan Fisher and Arthur Grabowski both voted against the 2019 proposal, saying they felt the town should listen to the advice of teachers over the recommendations of the district’s architect.
In an interview with the Item last month, Grabowski said he felt the board had already heard enough to make a decision.
“We’ve heard enough … based on the professional opinion of 10 second grade teachers who remain unified in their opposition to the proposed reconfiguration,” he said, later voicing his concerns that the 2019 proposal had been constructed to save money.
At Thursday’s meeting, Whittredge said simply funneling more money toward the Veterans school, using already-allocated funds, would not be enough to build extra classrooms and would not allow the district to provide room for future growth.
He also added that the current public health crisis and predicted economic downturn will mean schools likely won’t see extra funding in the near future.
“We’re going through tough times right now … This is our time to get this done right,” he said, later adding: “Both schools will get everything they need, including much-needed structural repairs. We’re going to have three brand-new, state-of-the-art buildings for our kids.”
Elyse Carmosino can be reached at [email protected].
