Does Ward Two want a school?
On Tuesday, March 14, Ward Two School Committee Member told the Finance Committee, "there is no school now and there needs to be one. ... I know I didn’t have to bring parents here to explain it to you." Cardosa was quoted in a story in the Somerville Journal about the construction of a new school on the site of the former Lincoln Park Community School.
Somerville's School Department has seven elementary schools: Brown School (Ward 6), Cummings School (Ward 3), East Somerville Community School (Ward 1), Healey School (Ward 4), Kennedy School (Ward 5), West Somerville Neighborhood School (Ward 7), and Winter Hill Community School (Ward 4). With the demolition of the Lincoln Park Community School there is no elementary school in Ward Two. There are schools just over the border in Ward Three (the Cummings School on Prescott Street) and Ward Five (the Kennedy School on Cherry Street), but there are no public elementary schools in Ward Two.
According to a press release from Anthony Pierantozzi, Superintendent of Schools,
Currently the students of the former Lincoln Park Community School are attending school at (a) Lincoln Park at Thurston Street, formerly the St. Anne’s School adjacent to the Winter [Hill] Community School [Ward 4] and (b) the Lincoln Park at Edgerly, located in the Edgerly Education Center at the intersection of Cross Street and Bonair Street [Ward 1].
Construction of the proposed Dr. Albert F. Argenziano School at Lincoln Park will not proceed until the Board of Aldermen approves a bond for an additional $14.5 million. For reasons of lack of information and lack of public input, the Finance Committee—comprising Alderman at Large William White, Ward Seven Alderman Robert Trane, Alderman at Large Denise Provost, Ward Two Alderman Maryann Heuston, and Alderman at Large Dennis Sullivan—voted on Tuesday to postpone discussion. The Journal quotes the reasons Finance Committee Chair, William Roche, gave for not being ready to vote on whether or not to approve the $14.5 million debt needed to construct the new school:
"I’m not ready to vote for this tomorrow night, I’ll tell you that. I’m really disappointed with the amount of information.""I look around and see one or two parents in the room. This place should be jam-packed. There should be 300 parents here. I don’t know if the people of Ward 2 want this project."
The Finance Committee and the Board of Aldermen will meet in City Hall, Tuesday, March 21, at 7 p.m. to discuss funding for and possible alternatives to the Albert F. Argenziano School at Lincoln Park. The public is welcome to attend.