Overcrowding, population growth cited as need
By JOSH RESNEK
The School Committee has begun the equivalent of a long march informing the state the city wishes to be considered for a new school to alleviate a serious overcrowding problem.
The overcrowding is worsening from year to year.
Everett High School is named as the school most overcrowded to satisfy the state’s requirements for application.
Thus begins what School Chairperson Frank Parker said would be a five-year process at the very least for the city.
By that time, it is likely the public schools will need seats for an extra thousand students if growth continues as it has during the past decade.
Presently at the high school, an additional 500 students are matriculating in a school built for 1600 students.
The mayor said he’d prefer a new high school with a large vocational element along the GE waterfront site.
He said he’d also like to build a major sports complex with track and field facilities, lockers, and a football stadium.
He said he wants to move the Everett Memorial Stadium from its present location to the waterfront to free up the present site from congestion.
The present high school would become a middle school.
The School Committee voted unanimously to send a communication to the Massachusetts School Building Authority to get in line for the long process that lies ahead.