Somerset to move district preschool to North Elementary

SOMERSET — The Somerset Public Schools is planning to move the preschool from the Chace Street School to the North Elementary School for the next school year, which would help to relieve some of the overcrowding that parents recently expressed a concern about.

The issue was discussed at a budget workshop of the Somerset School Committee last Tuesday. Lindsey Albernaz, director of business and finance for the schools, said the move will involve facility upgrades at North Elementary School, new furniture, floor repair, playground equipment for the preschoolers and security for the new classrooms at North Elementary School that would be located in the lower part of the building. Albernaz said the security involved for the preschool would be a swipe-card system to access the area.

Albernaz said there would be at least four preschool classrooms at North Elementary School and possibly a fifth.

Albernaz said there are four teachers who currently use the library at Chace Street School for classes. She said they would like to move those teachers to classrooms where the preschool area currently is at North Elementary School and use the library as a library again, when the preschool is moved to North Elementary School. One of the complaints of parents who are concerned about overcrowding at Chace Street School was that the Parent-Teacher Organization made donations to the library, but it has not been accessible for the students.

The three members of the Somerset School Committee who were present at the budget workshop last week seemed to support the plans for the relocation of the preschool. Chairman Melissa Terra and members Victor Machado and Lori Rothwell attended the workshop. Terra asked if some of the furniture from the preschool area at Chace Street School could be moved to North Elementary School. Albernaz said that could be done, but some new furniture would still be needed to set up the classrooms. Machado said that perhaps the cost to renovate the North Elementary School for the preschool classes should be put on the town meeting warrant as a special article, separate from the operating budget for pre-kindergarten through grade eight, but he did not want to gamble with the project. Albernaz said moving the preschool is the most costly capital item for the school budget this year.

School Superintendent Jeffrey Schoonover said they need to keep an eye on the enrollment of the Chace Street School to see if it is going up or down. He said houses near the center of town have been selling fast to young families who have children who attend Chace Street School. The enrollment projections for Chace Street School for the next school year would have an average of 22.3 students per class in kindergarten, 21 students per class in first grade, 21 students per class in second grade, 22.3 students per class in third grade, 27.5 students per class in fourth grade and 26.5 students per class in fifth grade. There would be three classes in kindergarten through third grade and two classes in fourth and fifth grade. Those class sizes in fourth and fifth grade would be the highest of any grade out of the three elementary schools in Somerset.

The budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2020 would add a co-teacher to a fourth grade class at Chace Street School. Schoonover said research shows that co-teachers benefit classes that have 27 or 28 students in them.