HomeMy WebLinkAbout1953-03-16-ESFC Elementary School Facilities Committee report First Report
of
Elementary School
Facilities Committee
LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS
MARCH 16, 1953
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Probable Enrollment in Lexington Schools through 1959.
Based on actual survival percentages in each grade for the past nine years.
2
INTRODUCTION
Due to the exceedingly rapid growth of the town and the serious
situation which was developing in the overcrowding of our Elementary
Schools, it was deemed necessary that some action be taken to study the
present and future needs of our Elementary School Facilities and make
recommendations for expansion if necessary.
For these reasons, the following vote was offered by the School Corn-
mittee and passed at the Adjourned Town Meeting held March 24, 1952:
Article 27. VOTED: That the Moderator be and hereby is author-
ized and directed to appoint an Elementary School Facilities Committee
of seven residents of the Town, two of whom shall be members of the
School Committee, at the time of their appointment, to study elementary
school building needs and report on the sufficiency of existing facilities
and to have authority to recommend expansion of these facilities and to
obtain preliminary plans for such expansion; and that the sum of $6,500
be appropriated for the expenses of the Committee and be provided by
transfers as follows: $475.00 from the Elementary School Sites Com-
mittee Account, $972.50 from the Elementary School Building Program
Committee Account, $578.86 from the High School Building Committee
of Fifteen Account,and$4,473.64 from the Excess and Deficiency Account.
Your Committee is very pleased to submit this report as one of
progress and wishes to thank Mrs. George P. Morey, Chairman of the
School Committee and Mr. John Blackhall Smith, Superintendent of
Schools for their time and valuable counsel which they have so generously
given toward the work of the Committee.
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PRESENT STATUS
On October 1, 1952 there were 2090 children enrolled in the Elemen-
tary Schools in Lexington. Our six Elementary schools have 74 class-
rooms, 9 of which are considered to be below accepted standards.
If we were to use only the 65 permanent and standard rooms, the
number of pupils per room would be far in excess of the recommended
maximum of 30, and still further from the ideal of 25. For the purposes
of this report your committee has assumed an arbitrary figure of 27.5
pupils per room as the goal toward which we are striving. By using this
figure it can be seen that we were, on October 1, short 11 rooms which
meet accepted standards.
In order to relieve this condition it has been necessary to improvise
9 temporary or sub-standard classrooms as shown in Table I. This has
been done by using teachers' rooms, by converting lunchrooms or all-
purpose rooms into classrooms, and by using sub-standard third floor
and basement rooms. We must recognize the fact that these are merely
temporary rooms and highly undesirable. At the same time we are
being deprived of the normal use for which the space was originally
intended.
TABLE I
Normal Actual
•
Permanent Temporary Capacity at Enrollment
Standard Sub-Standard 27.5 Pupils as of
School Classrooms Classrooms per Room October 1, 19.52
Adams 16 1 440 473
Fiske 10 3 275 405
Franklin 8 0 220 229
Hancock 8 3 220 303
Munroe 10 1 275 290
Parker 13 1 358 390
TOTAL 65 9 1788 2090
By referring again to Table I it can be seen that the most serious
overcrowding occurs at the Fiske and Hancock Schools.
We are able to accommodate the large number of extra pupils only
because we are maintaining a very complicated and expensive transpor-
tation system.
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OUR PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTURE
We have shown the inadequacy of our elementary school facilities
at the present, but let us now look at the next few years ahead.
In September of this year our new High School building will be
ready for occupancy and will make available at least 15 rooms in the
space now occupied by the Junior High School. It is very likely that for
a year or two, the 15 rooms will relieve the pressure if they are used
under the following conditions:
1. The continuance of some of the sub-standard rooms.
2. The reorganization of school districts and loads so as to bring
about 450 children, all of whom would require transportation, into the
1 available rooms. The determination of which children will be moved
presents a real problem.
3. The clear understanding that the space to be used will need to be
returned to Junior High School use in the very near future.
Thus our present needs have been met, not ideally nor even well, but
at least space has been provided temporarily.
We must now look at our future needs. Table II shows the number
of children of pre-school age residing in town as of December 10, 1952,
and the school districts in which they will be placed. This, however, is
only part of the picture, as these figures represent only the children
known to be in town by actual count.
TABLE II
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1947 1953 97 60 78 62 45 88 430
1948 1954 107 71 69 57 61 90 455
1949 1955 108 55 86 61 64 88 462
1950 1956 91 47 72 46 44 66 366
This table is based on actual count as of December 10, 1952.
We must take into account the abnormally rapid growth of our town
as evidenced in the past few years and which is continuing at present
with no sign of abatement.
Our Planning Board has before it a number of new developments,
some of which are quite active and some which have been static for sev-
eral years. The major ones are as follows: Five Fields, located off Con-
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cord Avenue, which is about half completed and will probably contain
about 40 homes. The Carrig development on the old Minute Man Golf
Course off Concord Turnpike is well under way and within a few years
will probably contain 60-100 homes. The Peacock Farm development
on Watertown Street has just started and will probably contain 40-50
homes in a year or two. The Pleasant Associates development on the
Whipple property off Lowell Street is capable of holding 300-400 resi-
dences, but the entire development has been held up for some time be-
cause of technicalities. The Kelly development adjacent to it was origi-
nally planned for some 300 homes and nearly two-thirds have been or
are in the process of being built.
Other smaller developments are in progress in many sections of the
town, while still others of major importance are in various stages of
advancement.
It should be pointed out that in spite of Lexington's heavy growth
this town still has the largest acreage of undeveloped and suitable build-
ing land of anytown in the north-western suburbs, consequently it is the
opinion of the Planning Board that barring war or economic recession
there will be continued heavy growth, particularly in view of the recent
establishment of the Air Force Research Center off Wood Street.
Previous estimates of future enrollment have fallen far short of
actual figures. This was not due to any shortcoming on the part of the
estimators, but because it was humanly impossible to foresee the ex-
ceedingly high rate of increase in our population. As an example may
we refer to the Nichols Report of only seven years ago in which our
population in 1950 was estimated at 14,500 and in 1955, 16,000. Our
actual population in 1950 was 17,335, while our present figure is over
20,000.
Our graph shows a projected enrollment in both our Elementary
and Junior and Senior High Schools based on an analysis of enrollment
trends over the past nine years. This graph, as with previous similar
projections,is merely an estimate and is probably on the conservative side.
Although the completion of our new High School has relieved our
grade schools temporarily by making some rooms available in the old
building, the next few years will change that picture entirely. Within
only two years our Junior High enrollment will have reached the point
where they will have to occupy some of the planned temporary elementary
section of the Junior High Building and by the fall of 1957 it will be
necessary to return the ninth grade from the Senior High Building to the
Junior High School.
In this connection your Committee feels that we must point out the
need within a very short time of providing additional space at the new
High School.
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CONCLUSIONS
From the foregoing we have seen that our elementary school facilities
are now seriously overcrowded, and that in the immediate years ahead,
a large amount of additional space must be provided. The question with
which your Committee has been confronted is: How can we provide this
additional space quickly and economically?
The first and most obvious answer was to add to our present build-
ings. As a result of our investigation of this answer to the problem, we
have reached the following conclusions.
Adams School is already of a size which is considered a practical
maximum for a single elementary unit, and no addition is advisable.
Hancock School, because of its construction and the size of the site
upon which it is situated would make the building of an addition highly
impracticable, if not altogether impossible.
Munroe School, also, is on a small site and, being in the center of
town, would not serve the areas where our population is growing. If an
addition were built here, 100 per cent of the additional pupils accom-
modated would have to be transported, which is not only an expense,
but highly undesirable.
Parker School has been enlarged very recently to about the limit
of its practical size, considering its construction and the area of the site.
Franklin School, although 22 years old, still compares favorably
with our modern schools, and would admit of enlargement, especially if
such enlargement were to include additional facilities•such as a modern
all-purpose room with stage, and a cafeteria with an adequate kitchen.
This addition, therefore, will be found included in our preliminary
recommendations.
Our newest school, Fiske, was designed and built with a future addi-
tion in mind. There is adequate land available in the present site and
it is in this area that the'most pressing need for additional facilities ex-
ists. For these reasons, together with the speed and economy of build-
ing an addition to Fiske, your Committee is presenting this as probably
the first of its recommendations.
Several years ago, our town was far-sighted in the purchase of two
sites for future elementary schools. Both of them are in strategic areas
of our population growth, and your Committee feels that the time is at
hand when these sites should be utilized.
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FIGURE I—Plot Plan of Proposed Addition to Fiske School.
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FIGURE II — Floor Plan of Proposed Addition to Fiske School.
PRELIMINARY RECOMMENDATIONS
In order that we might present preliminary recommendations, plans
and estimates in accordance with the vote of the Town Meeting, we have
employed the firm of Adden, Parker, Clinch and Crimp, the architects of
the Fiske School. Mr. Crimp has attended several meetings of your
Committee and has been most co-operative.
The estimates as given herewith reflect the best available data on
current prices and are figured as closely as possible without detailed
plans and specifications. They are to be considered, however, as pre-
liminary estimates only, and not as the basis for any future appropria-
tion. They include equipment, architects' fees, and finish grading, but
do not include rough grading and drainage.
It will be noted that in the plans for recommendations II and III,
provisions have been made for future expansion.
I. An addition to the Fiske School should be built as soon as pos-
sible. Figure I shows the proposed addition in its relation to the present
building. The floor plan, Figure II, shows a ten classroom addition with
an added play room. Your Committee would like time for further study
before deciding to recommend eight or ten classrooms, and have had the
estimate made on that basis. The addition matches the present building
with the exception that steel roof beams will be used in place of concrete.
The estimated cost of the addition as shown, is $384,000. If it is decided
that only eight classrooms are necessary, $28,750 could be deducted from
this estimate.
II. A new building on the School Street site, should be carried out
concurrently with the above. Appropriations for both projects should be
made as soon as detailed plans and specifications and firm bids can be
obtained. Figures III, IV, and V show the sketch, plot plan and floor
plan of a proposed eight classroom building on the property owned by
the town near the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and School Street.
Borings have been taken at this site and show no serious problems of
construction. The estimated cost of this building is $630,500.
We feel it is our duty to call attention to the need for sewage dis-
posal at this location. We are informed that the State Department of
Public Health will grant a temporary permit for use of a septic tank for
a limited time. It will be necessary to construct a sewer trunk line and
connections in the future at considerable expense.
III. The building of a new school on the town-owned property
near the intersection of Lowell and Maple Streets not later than 1957.
Figure VI shows a plot plan of the proposed building on this site. Its
appearance would be similar to that of the proposed school at the School
Street site. Borings taken at this location show almost ideal conditions
for construction. This building would cost an estimated $652,000.
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FIGURE III—Proposed School on Massachusetts Avenue and School Street Site.
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FIGURE IV—Plot Plan of Proposed School on Massachusetts Avenue and School Street Site.
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FIGURE V—Floor Plan of Proposed School at Massachusetts Avenue and School Street Site. q B 10 IB :o
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Plot Plan of Proposed School on Site at Maple and Lowell Streets.
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IV. The building of an addition to the Franklin School to provide
more classrooms, an all-purpose room, cafeteria and kitchen. We will
present the plans and estimate for this addition in a future report, to-
gether with a specific time for its construction.
It should be understood that this is merely a preliminary report.
The plans are flexible enough to be altered as conditions change, and
your Committee intends to submit specific recommendations together
with a time schedule at a special Town Meeting which should be held
in the early fall.
MYRON C. FISHER, JR.
CHARLES E. GOODHUE, 3RD
ROBERT C. JACI{SON
WILLIAM E. MALONEY
MILDRED B. MAREI{, Secretary
GEORGE P. WADSWORTH
ROBERT W. HUNTER, Chairman
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See. 34.66 P.L. & R.
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