PEABODY — Mayor Edward A. Bettencourt, Jr. is set to seek the City Council’s approval for renovations to the aging Center Elementary School this month, in anticipation of the school shutting its doors for the 2024-25 school year.
During a Monday morning School Buildings and Grounds Subcommittee meeting, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Josh Vadala laid out a more detailed timeline for renovations to the school. Vadala revealed that he and Bettencourt had toured properties in the Centennial Park area to relocate the Early Childhood Center, freeing up space for its students to attend a different school in the district. The district’s integrated preschool program is housed in the McCarthy Elementary School.
The district had previously sought admission to the Massachusetts School Building Authority’s core program for renovations at the Center School, but ultimately omitted it from the application to the MSBA. It applied only for repairs to Peabody Veterans Memorial High School instead.
Vadala said the heating, electrical, and plumbing systems in the 70-plus-year-old school are “beginning to fail” and as a result, extensive repairs are necessary.
Should the city get approval from the council for funding, work on the school would begin as soon as this summer with the abatement, stripping, and replacement of tile floors in the oldest part of the building. From there, the district would seek bids for the replacement of the existing HVAC system, which would begin the following summer.
“Those are the two big projects,” Vadala said.
Vadala explained that the school employs a steam heating system, which would be removed and replaced during the renovations.
The district is also exploring a partnership with Pathways for Children, a federal head-start program based in Beverly. The organization would occupy roughly half of the space in a new location identified by Peabody Public Schools.
“That seems like it could be a good long term partnership,” Vadala said.
He added that he and Bettencourt have another meeting set with the organization later this month.
“My vision for this would be that this would turn into the Early Childhood Center at the Kiley site,” Vadala said.
Once the details of that partnership are finalized, the district could turn its attention to where exactly students attending the Center School will go for the 2024-25 school year.
Closing the Center School for a year and forcing students out represents a different approach from the one taken by the city with the redevelopment of the Welch School. While that school was admitted into the MSBA’s core program, officials opted to take a phased approach to construction that enabled students to remain in the building while work was ongoing, albeit with fourth and fifth graders having to leave.
School Committee member Beverley Griffin Dunne, who chairs the Welch School Building Committee, said she could see the pros and cons of both approaches. She noted that many contractors opted not to bid on the Welch project because of the complexity of the phased process.
But, she said, moving the students out of the building is a drastic step and the impact on families will be severe.
“Figuring out where best to send kids has been difficult,” Dunne said. “I feel very bad for them.”
Initially, officials sought to keep grades together, but Dunne said Monday evening that that approach was “not going to work.”
While there are no safety risks posed by the current state of the Center School, Dunne acknowledged that the needs are extensive.
