SAUGUS — The Belmonte Middle School will be vacant this year as it prepares for refashioning to accommodate students from pre-K through Grade 5.
The Saugus School Committee voted 4-0 last week to decommission the building ahead of the district’s move to its new middle-high school sometime next year.
Schools or buildings that are decommissioned are shut down from operation or usage.
Belmonte will reopen again in September 2021 after undergoing extensive remodeling in order to house the new students.
“This will be a year of transformation as we rehab Belmonte first and then Veteran’s Memorial (Elementary School), but the end result is going to be well worth it,” said Committee Vice Chair Ryan Fisher. “I’m looking forward to September 2021 when every school in the district is fully renovated for these kids.”
Superintendent David DeRuosi called the vote a “big step forward,” and said 25 desks and 25 cafeteria tables will be put in storage in case they’re needed to help the district comply with state-mandated social distancing protocols once schools reopen. A number of desks were also relocated to Waybright Elementary School.
DuRuosi added that some technology at the Belmonte can be repurposed and that the district has kept computers that can still be used. In the meantime, the committee determined that anything left in the school will be recycled or disposed of.
Other municipal departments, including the Saugus Fire Department, have already been given a chance to take what they need from the building, and a contracted recycling company will be conducting a walkthrough of the school to look at any technology and furniture left behind to determine if it can be repurposed.
However, the rest of the abandoned equipment “should be deemed surplus and (be) disposed (of),” DeRuosi said.
In a statement provided to the Item, Committee Chair Tomas Whittredge later commended district officials for how they’ve handled the Belmonte’s transition.
“The process has been remarkably smooth so far thanks to all the hard work of Dr. DeRuosi and and (the) middle school’s principal, Myra Monto,” Whittredge said.