SAUGUS — Following a 3-2 vote last Thursday, The Saugus School Committee chose to postpone the date of its final school configuration decision by one week.
The delay comes after months of deliberation between town officials and teachers about whether the district should continue with an original 2017 configuration that grouped grades pre-K-2 at Veterans Memorial Elementary School and grades 3-5 at Belmonte Middle School; or follow a 2019 proposal that includes second grade in the move to Belmonte.
Board member John Hatch’s motion to delay the vote at Thursday’s meeting — which he requested after hearing an additional configuration option proposed by fellow board member Dennis Gould — was met with walkouts from multiple people in attendance.
“I think (the board) has demonstrated time and time again that we want what’s best for the district,” Hatch said. “I’m not sure I’m ready to vote tonight because I’m not sure I have all the information I need.”
Board member Arthur Grabowski later said he was disappointed no decision was made.
“These teachers put in a full day teaching students and then come to evening meetings that sometimes go on for two or three hours. We’ve dragged them along enough,” he said. “We’ve heard enough to make a decision based on the professional opinion of 10 second grade teachers who remain unified in their opposition to the proposed reconfiguration.”
In an anonymous survey conducted earlier this month by Saugus Educators Association President Rick Lavoie, 97.2 percent of the district’s 72 elementary school teachers preferred original reconfiguration plans, and 80.6 percent believed moving second grade to the Belmonte would primarily be a cost-saving measure.
Gould’s new proposed configuration, however, would leave Lynnhurst Elementary School open for kindergarten and pre-k students, allowing room for both the first and second grades at the Veterans.
“I’ve been thinking about keeping the Lynnhurst school open just to have surge protection in case all of these apartments and condos being built nearby (result) in a wave of new students,” Gould, who was one of three board members to agree to postpone the vote, said in a later interview with the Item.
He added: “During the course of listening to teachers, I looked at every option possible that logistically and financially would work.”
Grabowski was less optimistic about the new proposal.
“I don’t see us giving up another school building once things close,” he said. “I think we need to keep either Oaklandvale or Lynnhurst as an option for overflow, or for if we go to free all-day kindergarten.”
Further complicating matters, the decision was made in the midst of uncertainty about the immediate future of schools both state and nation-wide, many of which — including Saugus — have shut down indefinitely to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, also known as coronavirus.
With district schools closed at least until March 27, some questions remain about when a vote will take place.
Gould said the committee is considering different ideas if a meeting is unable to take place in the following weeks, but as of now, nothing is guaranteed.
“Now, with no school, I don’t know,” he said.