NAHANT — During Tuesday’s School Committee meeting, members and residents debated the possibility of the town’s young residents getting to know their neighbors in Swampscott better.
On Oct. 19, Swampscott residents can vote to proceed with construction of a new, “twin” elementary school that can hold the capacity of its current three schools ― Hadley, Clarke, and Stanley ― all of which have an average age of over 90 years.
With the possibility of a new, larger elementary school in Swampscott’s future, Nahant residents are questioning a possible extension of the existing relationship between the two districts, whether that means allowing Nahant students and staff access to new equipment or even having Nahant children attend the new Swampscott facility.
The town’s middle- and high-school students already attend the Swampscott Public Schools. The only public school in Nahant is Johnson Elementary School.
Nahant resident Sean Roberts proposed to the committee the possibility of a new relationship between Swampscott and Nahant.
“Would there be potential to integrate Nahant school earlier, as early as kindergarten, into the Swampscott school system and take advantage of this new building?” asked Roberts.
Roberts also brought the argument that a lot of students have felt left out when they automatically transition to Swampscott middle and high school after fourth grade. He believes the exposure to other kids at a young age could be a vital part of their acclimation to middle and high school.
While the committee agreed that more services and the sharing of new equipment would be something to look into, the idea of blending Nahant students into Swampscott schools from grades K-4 was shut down immediately by the School Committee.
“Discussing in sharing resources is a good idea, but I would be hesitant to support transitioning our students out of Nahant in a formal way before middle school,” said committee member Lauren Sherlock. “The value of having an elementary school within the town is very high in many ways; if the idea would be to merge with Swampscott and send our students daily over there, I would be very reluctant to entertain that idea.” Sherlock said.
Sherlock wasn’t the only committee member who did not show support for this new idea.
“We should always look to answer needs for our students and look for opportunities for them,” said member Beth Anderson, adding that there had not been any discussion within the committee on combining the school districts before the meeting.
Anderson explained that Nahant is facing no safety concerns or other issues with their current school, and that unless any issues of the sort arise, the School Committee won’t be considering bringing Nahant elementary schoolers to Swampscott.
