Tag: Overcrowding

We reported last week that efforts to getting a new high school on the gas burner with the state agency responsible for such things is looking very slim.

Everett is seeking a new high school that is estimated to cost $500 to $550 million, a gargantuan sum of money for any community let alone Everett.

Actually, a new high school approved by the state is looking almost impossibly unlikely, given the lack of funding by the state for new facilities such as high schools, and their spiraling costs.

As we reported last week, the state might possibly pay about 50% of the total cost of a new Everett High School.

This would leave the city $250 million short of paying the bill for a new high school. Where would that come from?

The taxpayers.

Years, months and weeks have passed since the overcrowded public schools crisis came into the public light.

The Pope John saga has lost its legs, so to speak.

There is no rush by the city to do anything to reduce overcrowding.

Everett dragging its legs on this key issue at a time when the federal government is probing racism and discrimination here is probably not a good idea.

The confidence of some public officials that we are untouchable and that Everett will not be harmed or changed by the federal probe, we think, is a big mistake.

When the law is looking around at you, it is a good time to be transparent and to do the right thing.

It is not a good time to stick one’s head into the sand like an ostrich and to believe the headache will go away.

The city not rushing to reduce overcrowding in the public schools is the kind of inertia that reflects very poorly on leadership here.