Can you envision a new school rising on a practice field behind Stop & Shop?
How about a middle-school campus built on the Crusher Lot, the woods behind Ottoson?
Could a performing-arts center be part of the Arlington High School rebuild?
Might a parking garage, serving town and schools, be part of the mix?
These are among the ideas considered during a wide-ranging School Committee discussion on Thursday, Dec. 10.
“Lotta wild-and-crazy ideas, putting everything out there,” member Cindy Starks commented. She was referring to notions offered that night as well as at the enrollment task force meeting the previous night. “It frustrates some people.”
She added: “We need a high-level vision of where we want to go.”
In an attempt provide a frame for that vision, Starks offered what she called “4 big questions.” She had introduced it the night before. Read the concise version here >> The longer version, presented Dec. 10, is here >>
These questions ask whether Arlington should have neighborhood schools, what size should Ottoson be, what should happen to the former Gibbs Jr. High and what size should classes be. School Committee Chair Paul Schlichtman used them later in the meeting to conduct what he called “lightning polls.”
But, first, some of the ideas, offered as “something to think about,” not concrete proposals:
Site next to high school
PRACTICE FIELD: Member Kirsi Allison-Ampe suggested putting a new school for grades seven and eight on the field to the left of the high school, between Stop & Shop and the town Department of Public Works. Ottoson would then educate fifth and sixth graders only. It is now the seventh largest middle school in the state.
Responding to a query from YourArlington, she pointed to these advantages of the idea Dec. 13:
— It would free up space in all the elementary schools and decrease the student enrollment at Ottoson to a number near its design capacity when it opened in 1998.
— If a seven-eight school is designed as part of the Arlington High School campus, under the rebuild, perhaps it could be covered by state School Building Authority funding. “We have already told MSBA that we are considering moving grade 8 there,” she wrote.
— Such a school could share some facilities, such as the auditorium and the sports fields.
— The idea would mean the school administration would not have to reclaim the former Gibbs Jr. High, and it would not take up current open space.
Disadvantages include losing a sports field and dealing with the change involved in moving grade five to the middle school, she wrote, noting many districts do this, including Belmont.
In addition, the field is capped after hazardous waste was found there in 1995, so construction would have to work around that.
“Plus I am still trying to get info on how teachers, etc., feel about a combined campus and whether it is a good thing for the upper middle students,” she wrote.
At the Dec. 10 meeting, offered almost as a throwaway line, she included the idea of perhaps having parking structure, to be used by school and town.
The notion brought a smile to committee Chair Paul Schlichtman, who imagined creating a parking authority as part of the process.
Notion for Ottoson
CRUSHER LOT: Into the mix, Facilities Committee Chair Cindy Starks suggested using the woods behind Ottoson as new campus. On Dec. 14, she pointed toward the source of notion, Al Hiltz. He operates a photography studio at the Arlington Center for the Arts and was inspired to help during the Sept. 24 Town Hall presentation.
“One of the options that is being discussed right now is to create a new school for grades 5 and 6,” he wrote Dec. 14. “Grades K-4 would be elementary, grades 7 and 8 would be middle school. The beauty of this plan is that it solves the overcrowding issues at the elementary schools and the middle school with a single new school building.
“The Crusher Lot would be an ideal location for this new school. Having grades 5 and 6, and 7 and 8 in different buildings in a shared campus seems to make perfect sense. I like this idea a great deal.”
Read all of Hiltz’s comments here >>
Following free-reign committee comments, Schlichtman tried to out meat on the bones of Starks’s four questions. He asked how each member of the six members stands on them. The results:
Neighborhood schools? They should remain.
Ottoson size? “Not bigger than now,” Allison-Ampe said. Jeff Thielman wants a smaller school and urged that details be discussed.
Jud Pierce likes “the idea of kids not changing schools a lot.” He would like a one-through-five elementary setup, followed by a six-through-12, or just two schools.
Starks teaches in a Lexington middle school with 824 students (fewer than Ottoson) that plans to add a three-story addition. “I like knowing a third of the 6th graders,” she said, adding that she likes a five-through-eight school here.
Gibbs? Thielman cited Bodie’s memo saying renovating the building Gibbs would cost from $14 million to $20 million, suggesting that displacing the center for the arts may not be best financial solution.
Jennifer Susse thought it might be easier to find a new home for the center for arts than provide new school building.
Schlichtman said he would like to see possibility of performing-arts center at AHS, such as those in Barnstable and Chelmsford, which would include a community arts center. He added that he like Allison-Ampe’s idea to build on the high school practice field.
“We don’t need to decide tonight,” Bodie said.
Class size? As the meeting pushed 10 p.m., the poll did not reach this question, but committee members are known to support the current average of 25.
Some parts of this confusion could be sifted out once officials learn from the state whether funding to rebuild Arlington High School at a projected cost of $140 million, is a go. Arlington, making its second try for state reimbursement, expects to know between Dec. 21 and 30.
Dec. 12, 2015: Variety of views offered as task force grapples with growth
Dec. 2, 2015: In 1st session, enrollment task force eyes speedy option; School Committee to discuss broader issues
Summary of “Four Big Questions,” presented by Cindy Starks | Longer version
Town link to enrollment task force
Oct. 11, 2015: CROWDING CRUNCH: Arts, educators, nonprofit make pitches
Sept. 28, 2015: As public-school enrollment rises, officials, public grapple with future
Space Planning Report for Arlington Public Schools,” HMFH Architects, September 2015
Linda Shoemaker’s statement in September supporting ACA
Sept. 10 comments to School Committee about the Gibbs by Ted Wilson
Oct. 15, 2014: Public schools’ enrollment continues to rise
This summary was published Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2015.
