North Adams Schools Moving Preschool, Seeking Office Space
Superintendent James Montepare explains how the need to find space for the administrative offices that have been located at Conte School. |
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The School Department will be doing some moving around in the coming months.
Johnson School, which had housed the alternative program, will become an early childhood center beginning this fall and the adminstrative offices will move to an as-yet-unidentified location.
"All of the schools are at maximum capacity," Superintendent James Montepare told the School Committee on Tuesday, which has made it difficult to carve out space for preschool programs. "The only way to do is an early childhood center."
Brayton School has 541 children, 139 of which are enrolled in the preschool program. The school was built in 1994 with provisions for one class and now hosts eight morning and afternoon sessions with four teachers. Moving the preschool would open up five classrooms.
Repurposing Johnson's second floor would provide for space for the preschool classes; Head Start, which currently serves 90 children from age 3, will continue on the first floor.
Montepare said the school does need repairs, including renovating the bathrooms, but most of the work is cosmetic. It's an old building, he said, but still "it's a nice building." The only other option would be to build onto the other schools.
There was concern over the lack of elevator service to the second floor but on investigation it was determined "we don't need [Americans with Disabilities Act], we need program accessibility," said Montepare, and should the need arise, the preschool could share a class on the first floor.
"Just on the second-floor space we have more room there, probably by 40 percent, than we do at Brayton School," he said. "There are six big classrooms, 30 by 30."
Preschool staff toured the building on Monday. The third floor, which had been used as office space by some agencies, could be repurposed for use because it has a small stage. Relocating to Johnson "would drop the population to the 400 range [at Brayton], exactly where it should be," said Montepare.
School Committee member Mary Lou Accetta said the ideal would be to keep children in the neighborhood schools with their siblings, but since that's not possible, "I think the Johnson School plan is an excellent option."
The department has issued a request for proposals for administrative space with bids due on April 12 at 9 a.m.. Whether the Conte School renovation goes through or not, the offices — including the education center on West Main Street that may become part of Heritage State Park — has to move.
"We've been here since the school closed, going on four years, and we're going to have to get out of this building one way or another," said Montepare. The offices had remained at Conte in the short term in part because of the cost of temporary relocation.
The school renovation project does not include district administration space, which would not be reimbursed by the state School Building Authority, and continuing at Conte if the project is defeated would be too costly. The building needs a new roof and there are heating and accessibility issues.
The School Department needs 10,000 square feet and space for about 35 people, preferably with little to no changes required.
Mayor Richard Alcombright said City Hall isn't suitable and the Windsor Mill and former Notre Dame School would need expensive renovations.
"[City Hall] is a fairly good-sized building but the way it's laid out, it just wouldn't work," he said. "Windsor Mill does not have adequate space and to make it have adequate space ... it would cost hundreds of thousands dollars."
Alcombright, also chairman of the School Committee, said leasing space is hoped to be more cost effective than renovating city-owned property. The School Department is spending between $105,000 and $116,000 per year or more to occupy Conte.
In other business, the committee:
• Approved field trips to:
♦ Costa Rica during next year's February school break in conjunction with Hoosac Valley High School, contingent on participants being insured. Some 20 students, with seniors having first choice, could take the trip to learn about sustainability, green energy usage and visit a turtle reserve and rainforests. Cost is $2,347 per student complete, with options for payments plans, scholarships and fund raising.
♦ The International Music Festival in Montreal from April 19 to 22 for band members, which will include clinics and performances by the Drury bands. Cost is $675 per student and band parents have already been fund raising.
• Approved hirings to cover resignations and retirements, and the spring sports season, and next year's school calendar.
• Reviewed updates on school improvement plans.
Tags: preschool,
