School Committee Undecided on Reconfiguration

The Seekonk School Committee remains undecided on which grade reconfiguration option to choose to handle increasing class sizes at the elementary level.

In the last few years, Seekonk has been experiencing a rapid population growth.  For the 2023-2024 school year, there were a total of 2,061 students with 1,021 students at Aitken/Martin and 1,034 students at Hurley and the high school.  

One option which had been proposed would be to move the fifth grade out of Aitken and Martin elementary schools to Hurley Middle School.

In 2021, the 10 classroom addition to Aitken Elementary School was completed at a cost of $11 million. Former School Superintendent Rich Drolet said the project was needed to reduce class sizes. Modular units were used when the project was under construction.

Committee member Kyle Juckett noted at the October 7 meeting that the overcrowding situation is very different now.

“The goal posts changed. That goal post change is not just the school district, it’s also the town increasing the population at a rate that’s not standardized. What the plan was for Aitken is not really the plan any more.”

“I think it would be a mistake of us to assume the Aitken project was going to fix everything,” said School Superintendent Rebecca Kidwell. “We’re definitely coming up on the edges of what we can sustain.”

“I highly encourage everyone (on the committee) to go (to the elementary schools),” said committee chair Meaghan Mahoney. “I was able to go to Aitken. There is no space.”

The impact on special education will be costly, according to Kidwell.

“If we cannot increase our in-district special education programming because of space limitations, there would be an increase in out of district tuition costs. There are five to seven students likely to be in this classroom.”

Kidwell noted the cost per student would be $90,000 for a total of $540,000.

“We have a problem and we’re offering you different ways to treat it,” Kidwell told the school committee.

Committee member Emily Field said the parents she has spoken with were not in favor of moving fifth grade students to Hurley.

“A lot of people have concerns about this,” Kidwell noted. “There would be social emotional concerns with fifth graders moving to the middle school. Of the plans, this is the plan with the lowest cost and it does create a cushion that would allow a long term plan with a higher cost.”