Swampscott Voters To Determine Elementary Schools' Fate Tuesday

SWAMPSCOTT, MA — The future of Swampscott elementary schools will be decided on Tuesday when voters go to the polls to determine the fate of the proposed $98 million K-4 twin elementary schools planned for the currently Stanley site.

Voting will take place in the Swampscott High cafeteria from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. for all six precincts. All mail-in ballots requested must be turned into the town clerk’s office by the close of polls Tuesday to be counted.

Voters are asked to approve a debt exclusion to fund the twin schools that will consist of one K-2 building, one Grades 3-4 building and a common area for facilities, staff and activities. Swampscott has been approved for $34 million in state reimbursement funds for the project – leaving the taxpayer cost at about $64 million.

Swampscott officials said during a forum on the proposed school at the senior center last week that excess money in the town stabilization fund will be used to level out the taxpayer burden over the next 30 years. Swampscott Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald reiterated during the forum that the maximum average tax increase for a single-family home will be about $300 a year.

The vote will come almost exactly seven years following the rejection of the last elementary school project that would have replaced the fourth-oldest group of elementary school buildings in the state. Hadley Elementary was built in 1911, Stanley was built in 1929 and Clarke was built in 1952.

"We're here again because our needs haven't changed seven years later,” Swampscott Superintendent of Schools Pam Angelakis said at the forum. "In fact, our needs have grown.

"We are not teaching or learning in 21st-century schools. We do not have the space that education today calls for."

The Swampscott Teachers Association came out in favor of the proposed new twin schools in September — citing the need for equity and accessibility in education for all young Swampscott students. Currently, only the Clarke School is handicapped accessible, while officials told stories about closets and trailers being used as classrooms, auditoriums being used as libraries and hallways being used for supply storage because of space restrictions.

The new school is designed to hold up to 900 students.

"This will be a state-of-the-art facility that will allow for equitable education where (students) do not have to compete across the town," Angelakis said.

While project opponents have cited cost uncertainty, Select Board Chair Peter Spellios said at the forum that by law the state will only allow the town to approve a bid that comes in at or below the amount voters approved without having to either go back to town meeting to request additional funds or abandoning the project.

Opponents have also expressed some concerns about consolidating the neighborhood schools, the neighborhood traffic and congestion impact and the impact on Stanley students who will have to be taught at an alternative location for the two years it is expected it will take to build the new school.

Another hurdle has been an easement of Universalist Unitarian Church land needed as a state-required egress from the school.

Spellios said the Select Board had a positive meeting with church representatives last week where officials on both sides pledged to work together to come to a solution.

"The Town of Swampscott and the UUCGL continue to discuss the easement required as part of the new elementary school," the Select Board said in a statement. "The town and church met most recently last week and agreed to resolve details of the easement with the benefit of a third-party mediator. This is important progress, and a key step towards a fair and equitable resolution for all.

"We appreciate the church's strong sense of community and their commitment to collaborating with the town on this critically important project for our town."

The $57 million 2014 proposal failed overwhelmingly at both the town meeting and town-wide vote.

A special town meeting vote of members last month was 244 to 39 in favor of allowing the project to move forward to Tuesday’s town-wide vote.

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)

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