Melrose's Kindergarten Crisis: Where To Put The Extra Classes?

MELROSE, MA — The push to double the number of integrated classrooms due to a larger-than-expected influx of kindergarten students was temporarily tabled at Tuesday night's Melrose School Committee meeting. The issue, however, is still very much alive.

The school committee agreed to hold the proposal. It isn't dead, but a vote on it has been delayed until the school committee is presented with more information.

So here's the deal: The district undershot how many kindergarten students there would be in the 2018-19 school year. Instead of the estimated number of roughly 303 students, the district already finds itself with an enrollment of 324, according to Assistant Superintendent Patricia White-Lambright. That number is expected to increase to about 340 by the time the school year starts.

Right now Melrose has 15 kindergarten classes across five elementary schools. Two of those classes are integrated, meaning they are smaller and mix special needs students with general education students. These classes have a teacher and paraprofessional support.

As the number of kindergarten students increases, so is the number of special needs students. The proposed solution was to double the number of integrated classrooms from two to four.

The question, as always, is where to put these extra classes? White-Lambright said that the Lincoln, Roosevelt, Winthrop, and Horace Mann won't be able to house two more kindergarten classes for varying reasons that revolve around space - the Winthrop already has to drop a kindergarten class to give them three instead of four.

The proposal would compensate by placing two classes in the Franklin Early Childhood Center. One class would be the relocated one from the Winthrop and another would be the 16th kindergarten class in Melrose - four of which would be integrated. Those four would have 18 students, while the 12 others would have 22-23 students.

The Franklin wasn't among the options given to parents enrolling for kindergarten, so the district would have needed to communicate with each incoming family.

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