Without modulars, school in space crunch

Parents knew that classroom space was getting tight at the Runkle School. They didn't know that two modular classrooms wouldn't be ready for the start of school in September.

The result is that officials are starting the summer vacation by scrambling for classroom space. And Runkle is merely the first of the town's eight elementary schools that are expected to exceed capacity in the next few years.

Rising birth rates and an influx of families with young children are starting to strain the public schools, said Peter Rowe, deputy superintendent for administration and finance.

Incoming kindergarten classes have needed 25 to 27 classrooms throughout the district, Rowe explained, while the eighth-grade classes for this past school year and next year each needed 20 classrooms. He said the district has to find 12 new classrooms for next year.

Runkle, which normally has had two classrooms per grade, now has three sections in six of its nine grades.

The school was built in 1963, and a four-classroom addition in 1989 brought the intended capacity to 470 students.

Currently, there are 480 students, and programs that didn't exist in the 1960s have been added. This means that many classrooms - and the principal's office - are being shared three or more ways.

Principal David Summergrad had planned to move two second grades to the modulars. But according to Rowe, the town Building Department has run into problems with the one vendor who bid on the contract.

Part of the problem may be that the School Department wanted to lease, rather than buy, the modulars for Runkle, which is due for a major renovation and expansion in 2010, Rowe said. But whatever the cause, the sole bidder had little incentive to meet the town's demands.

"The Building Department struggled to pull together contract documents that met all the specifications," said Rowe.

"The company wanted us to bear all the risks, which was unacceptable."

The parties are still negotiating.

Meanwhile, the situation at Runkle demands an alternative for the fall. So, Summergrad plans to move a third grade and part of an autism program into the multipurpose room, which will be divided in two. He said that if the modulars were installed by Christmas, he'd move classrooms into them, freeing the larger room for its usual uses.

"Space is very important," he said, "but we have a staff that could teach in a warehouse."

Around town, even relatively new or newly renovated schools are finding they have too few classrooms for the number of children they expect.

According to Rowe, Lawrence, Heath, and Lincoln schools may need modular units as soon as the 2009-2010 school year, and all but Driscoll may need them in the following year.

Heath is hosting three sections in kindergarten and grades 2 and 4 this year.

Lincoln will have four grades of three sections each.

While the school district will look at redistricting and other options, classroom space will probably continue to be tight into the plannable future, Rowe said.

Modular classrooms are a likely solution.

In light of the Runkle experience, the School Department is asking vendors why they chose not to bid on the Runkle modulars: whether tough specifications or the decision to lease rather than buy were factors; or whether larger purchasers in other communities were simply more attractive.

The School Committee is also going forward with a facilities master plan, which should bring the buildings into line with planned programs and expected enrollments, said chairman Henry Warren.

"In an ideal world, we would have developed our strategic plan, and then the facilities master plan based on that," he said. "Instead, we have the idea that Runkle is a strategic asset; that we need to renovate it with an ideal capacity in mind outside of the facilities plan."

Summergrad said ideally, the school should add five to eight classrooms, to prepare "for those years where we bump up to four sections."

Runkle also is looking for spaces inside and outside the building for its annual talent show for the extended day program, third-grade concert, and other events that were held in the multipurpose room.

Heath principal Milly Katzman has offered that school's performance space.

The Old Lincoln has a second-floor auditorium that might also be used.