No State Funding For Relocation Of Salem's Horace Mann School

SALEM, MA -- The Massachusetts School Building Authority denied an application by the city for funding to relocate the Horace Mann Laboratory School. City officials had submitted a statement of interest for funding in March to move the school from the north campus of Salem State University to the Harrington Building on Salem State's south campus. The plan, which has been decades in the making, would have moved off of the busy Loring Avenue and ended the need to bus students to Harrington for gym classes.

The school district can reapply for funding for the project. The state received 83 applications from 59 school districts. School officials said the denial was based solely on a lack of funding at the state level to approve all of the projects.

"As part of the process with the statement of interest, the MSBA came to visit and met with us and were able to tour the Horace Mann building and take a look at the Harrington building as well," Salem Public Schools Superintendent Margarita Ruiz told the Salem News, which first reported this story. "We got very good feedback from our application."

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Patch file photo.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).