By BRIDGET TURCOTTE
SAUGUS — Parents had a voice in the complete overhaul of Saugus Public Schools Monday night.
Superintendent David DeRuosi presented plans for the future of the district, which includes changes at every grade level. By 2020, residents could be looking at one lower elementary school for Pre-K through grade 2; one upper elementary for grades 3-5; and a combination middle and high school.
The new school structure would replace the existing Pre-K, four elementary schools, middle school and high school.
The new middle-high school would be constructed on the same property as the existing high school. A new football stadium with multi-use fields would replace the current building.
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The Veteran’s Memorial Elementary School, which is 16 years old, would become the lower elementary school.
Modifications would be made to the Belmonte Middle School and it would become the Belmonte STEAM Academy. The upper elementary school would have a special focus on science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics.
As an alternative, to renovate all elementary schools except the Veteran’s Memorial School would cost more than $80 million, DeRuosi said.
“The future of this town rides on this,” he said. “We have the opportunity to recreate the district.”
He said a new building would support 21st century learning.
Parents discussed flexible seating options and replacing rows of desks with clusters of tables. They listed benefits that included more collaboration between students and teachers being more involved with group activities.
“Sometimes a child can be a better teacher to another child because they can relate,” said Jean Bloom, a parent and member of the Veterans Memorial Parent Teacher Organization.
Parents were concerned about how traffic patterns would change if the schools were condensed, but thought the pros outweighed the cons.
Bloom said the children all going to school together at a younger age would help with transitions at higher grade levels.
Amy Petipas, a parent, said she has heard a lot about different teaching styles existing at different schools. She believes it is a problem in the district that would be alleviated with the change.
“I want to move but I don’t want my kids to have to move schools,” she said.
School Committee Member Arthur Grabowski said keeping the grade levels together in one building will allow for more collaboration between teachers.
“All the teachers will be in the same building at the same place,” he said. “They will all be teaching the same thing. They can support each other and learn off of each other.”
The building committee passed a plan for a combination middle and high school in August and sent it to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) for approval. The quasi-independent agency funds capital improvement projects in the state’s public schools.
DeRuosi said the schematic design will be completed and sent to the MSBA by May and Town Meeting will convene to vote by the end of June. If approved, construction is expected to begin in July and take two to three years. The estimated cost is still unknown, according to DeRuosi.
A second parent forum will be next Monday at the Belmonte Middle School at 6:30 p.m.
Bridget Turcotte can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @BridgetTurcotte.