The new Lynn Classical building
Classical HS Building News Updates 2007-2008
( Scroll down for additional articles)
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Administrators Return on Time to Classical
LYNN - The corridors aren't
quite clean and the construction work is still a bit noisy, but Lynn Classical
employees took the first step in returning normalcy to the O'Callaghan Way
school building Monday.
Principal Warren White and select members of his administrative staff returned
to the Classical offices Monday, right in line with Inspectional Services
Director Michael Donovan's timetable.
Contractors have been working through the summer, making structural repairs to
the school's first floor corridor, and have completed work on the office and
elevator lobby areas.
During construction, staff members were forced to work at the Fecteau-Leary
School on North Common Street, where the school's Freshman Academy is housed.
"We aren't quite moved in yet, just my office has moved back in. Next week
we hope to have everyone else in the building," White said. "Right now
we are still just confined to my office area, which is really all we need."
By next week, White expects the school's guidance counselors and faculty to
return to the building and begin preparing for the start of school Sept. 3.
Although the first-floor lobby and office area will re-open in time for school,
construction workers will have the majority of the building's main floor closed
off as they continue to perform work after school hours.
Contractors will work second-shift only through the autumn months reinforcing
the school's concrete support slab, the key piece responsible for the structural
deficiencies that have plagued the 8-year-old building.
Freshman students will remain on North Common Street this school year, while
sophomores, juniors and seniors will be able to use the second and third floors
of the high school.
White will remain in the main building, while guidance councilor Judith Taylor
will return for a second year as the acting principal of the Freshman Academy.
White said moving people, supplies and records across town twice in one summer
is a difficult task, and anticipates there is still plenty of work to be done
before the staff can settle back into the new building.
"This is not going to happen all at once," he said. "We are still
moving a lot of the records back over here."
Donovan anticipates the current phase of the project will be complete around
February or March, and if all goes well, all students should be able to return
to the building in the fall of 2009.
THOR JOURGENSEN , THE DAILY ITEM : July 11, 2008
Workers are
laying a new support slab beneath Classical High School and rebuilding walls and
lower stairwells to make most of the school useable by the time preparations for
the next academic year begin in August. Contractor GVW, Inc. started demolishing
sections of the school's sinking concrete slab last winter.
"We're working like crazy to finish that," said city Inspectional Services Director Michael Donovan. Classical opened in 2000 on the site of a former dump. The concrete pad the school sits on began sinking into the compacted dirt, throwing door and window frames out of alignment, splitting floors and cracking display cases.
The city sued the school's architect and other firms in 2005 and the resulting $8.6 million settlement is paying for part of the $14.4 million renovation cost.
Much of the work focuses on laying a new structural slab.
Unlike the original concrete pad, the slab is anchored into new piles driven into the ground.
"It acts as a bridge and it can support its own weight and more," Donovan said.
Workers are relocating wiring and other utilities to prevent them from being damaged while the slab work is underway. They will rebuild the first floor staircases in four stairwell towers by Aug.18 when teachers and other workers return to the school in preparation for the academic year ahead.
When the school year begins, the second and third floors of the academic wing will be accessible along with the rest of the school except for the academic wing's first floor.TLT will work through February rebuilding walls on the academic wing's first floor. Work on the final phase of the renovation starts in March or April with work in the cafeteria and other parts of the school underway by next summer. "The schedule is for the entire school to be fully up and running by September 2009," Donovan said.
Classical Repairs are Still on Schedule
LYNN - Superintendent Nicholas
Kostan toured the construction at Classical High School Wednesday for the first
time since the extensive structural repairs began in December.
Kostan told the School Committee Thursday night that the work remained on
schedule and, while an entire section of the school has been gutted and blocked
off, the disturbance to students in grades 10 through 12 still attending class
there is minimal.
"The good news is that everything looks to be on schedule, and Inspectional
Services is very happy with the progress of the project so far," he said.
Construction is set to enter the third phase of the project within the next few
weeks where contractors will drive new piles in to the ground to support the
concrete slab that holds the building's foundation.
Kostan announced that the entire school would be closed for the summer from June
23 to Aug. 18 so that workers can complete electrical work without disturbing
summer school or the administrative staff.
Principals and staff members who work through the summer will move their
operation to the former Classical High School, the current home of the Classical
Freshman Academy inside the Fecteau-Leary building on North Common Street.
Summer school will also move to the Fecteau-Leary and take place from June 30 to
July 31.
In other construction news, Mayor Edward J. Clancy Jr. said Thursday that work
to Manning Field should wrap up within the next few weeks as soon as new windows
are installed in the field's facilities.
"Anyone who has ever worked construction knows that windows are probably
the toughest thing to get and get done," he said. "What a beautiful
facility that is going to be."
One of the Contractors to Repair 1st Floor in Hot Water
Reprinted from The Lynn Journal, 2/27/08
A Suffolk County grand jury indicted
GVW Inc. on several charges earlier this month. The company, which began
Phase 2 work on Lynn Classical High School, was hit with failure to pay
prevailing wages, failure to pay overtime, failure to submit accurate payroll
records and committing perjury. The company’s owner, George V. Wattendorf, 52,
Swampscott, was also indicted on all charges with the exception of perjury.
According to a spokesman from the Attorney General’s Office, the company had
been under investigation for more than a year after several employees complained
to the Fair Labor Division. The employees argued they hadn’t been paid
the prevailing wage at several jobs during the year, including one job in Lynn.
GVW Inc. was awarded a contract that called for the company to demolish sections
of the school. Earlier this month, Inspectional Services Director Michael
Donovan said GVW Inc. would begin working there in the second week of
February.
Donovan said Phase 2 involves the relocation of the electrical wires to the
academic wing. “Right now, they are in the slab, and we have to bring
them up above,” he said.
Because of the indictment, however, the city’s schedule has been put on hold.
Along with Lynn, five other Massachusetts communities were named by the Attorney
General’s Office in which GVW Inc, employees issued complaints: Amesbury,
Andover, Haverhill, Lunenburg and North Reading. The workers accused the
company of not paying the electrical workers prevailing wages at each site.
The jobs were public construction contracts, some of them schools.
In certified payroll records, the workers weren’t classified as electrical
workers, but instead were named as apprentices or day laborers. In some
instances, the workers were removed from the certified records altogether.
Along with the six workers, three additional workers argued they weren’t paid
overtime.
The company also found itself facing perjury charges after it was revealed it
didn’t properly classify itself on a recertification application to the
Division of Capital Asset Management.
Lynn officials, including Donovan, are adamant that work will continue despite
the slate of charges pending against the company. The city finds no reason
for work to be delayed, because no conviction has been handed down to the
company, and with work underway and scheduled to be completed in April, it is
clear that Phase 2 will be completed before verdicts are reached.
Attempts to reach GVW attorney Thomas Butters were unsuccessful.
A spokesman from the Attorney General’s Office said the investigation is still
ongoing and asked anyone suspected of being short-changed to call the Fail Labor
Hotline at 617–727–3465.
Classical Work Remains on Schedule
LYNN - Repeating a presentation made to the City Council earlier this month, Inspectional Services Director Michael Donovan shared an update on Classical High School construction with the School Committee last week, noting that the work remains on schedule, as phase two is set to get under way early this month."Much of
phase four is cosmetic, so we should expect to have the students back in by
September 2009," Donovan said. "But that doesn't mean we won't be
pouring sidewalks while they are going to school. The intent is to re-occupy the
entire school by that time."
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The new Lynn Classical building |
Boston Company Named Classical Project Managers
LYNN - With the bulk of demolition
and heavy construction set to begin at Classical High School in the coming
months, Boston-based CBI Consulting has won the bid to oversee the process as
project managers, the firm announced Friday.
The company is the first of many construction and architectural firms that will
battle for bids throughout the entirety of the four-phase, 18-month renovation
project, but as project managers, CBI will organize and oversee most of the
mechanical, electrical and plumbing services.
The scope of the $12 million project includes the replacement of existing
concrete support slabs beneath the school, along with the reinforcement of piles
within the slabs and several structural repairs to both the interior and
exterior of the building.
"With the proper restoration, the life expectancy of a school building can
be greatly extended," said CBI Consulting Principal Wayne Lawson.
"Renovation projects are a cost-effective measure that can help ensure the
safety and longevity of a structure."
CBI was founded in 1984, and has since built a client list that includes Brown
University, the Marriot Hotels, Wentworth Institute of Technology and the U.S
Post Office in Boston.
Problems first surfaced at the then 5-year-old Classical High School in 2005,
when a large portion of the school's A and C wing, along with the library, began
to show severe structural damage including large jagged cracks in the walls and
buckled ceiling tiles. By 2006, the school suffered from crumbling walls,
cracked and lifted floor tiles, misaligned doors and areas of broken windows and
shattered trophy case glass.
Built on the site of a former landfill, inspectors recently determined the
deficiencies began because contractors did not properly secure the concrete
support slabs to bedrock located beneath the contents of the landfill. Because
piles were not driven to the bedrock, the school slowly began to sink into the
soft surface below, causing the severe structural problems to take place.
The city sued the 11 different firms that worked on the building in 2006,
eventually settling on an $8.85 million settlement, the bulk of which was paid
by Symmes Maini and McKee in Cambridge and GZA GeoEnvironmental Inc. of Newton.
CBI will now oversee the four-phase renovation project, which began in December
with the removal of materials from the areas of the school where the renovations
will take place.
Officials hope to begin phase two in early February, which will consist of
tearing down interior walls, demolishing portions of the existing concrete slab,
and reworking underground electrical wiring. This phase should be complete by
late April.
The bulk of the structural repair will take place during phase three, expected
to take place between May and November of this year. Workers will build a new
slab and pound the existing piles further into the bedrock to ensure proper
support, and also install new grade beams to further ensure stability and
support in the rear of the building.
Phase four will feature work to the exterior of the school, and will bring the
project to its completion in September 2009, hopefully in time for incoming
freshmen to return to the school.
The 2007 and 2008 freshmen classes at Classical are housed inside the Fecteau-Leary
building on North Common Street, which served as the high school prior to the
construction of the new building. Students in grades 10-12 will remain on
O'Callaghan Way throughout the renovation project.
Construction Work on Building is Right on Schedule
LYNN - Phase one of the
repairs to the Lynn Classical freshmen academic wing are moving on schedule, and
city officials say they have identified the errors made when the building was
initially built on O'Callaghan Way.
In a presentation to the City Council, Inspectional Services Director Michael
Donovan outlined a revised four-phase plan that should have freshmen back in the
high school by the start of the 2009-2010 school year.
Donovan said mistakes were made when building the initial support slab, because
construction crews only drove piles into the landfill beneath the school, rather
than going deeper into the earth to find bedrock. Because of this oversight, the
slab began sinking into the soil, causing the problems that now need to be
repaired.
By identifying this problem now, contractors will not have to tear up the
mini-piles like originally thought; they can bring in a small pile driver to
pound existing piles deeper toward the bedrock when installing the new slab.
Donovan says the project should be a little less expensive, because there will
not be as much demolition and reconstruction, but at this point he is assuming
the cost will be a wash.
"We found there was an excess capacity in the mini-piles holding up the
slab, so now rather than adding more piles, we can use the existing ones. This
is the way it should have been done in the first place," he said. "It
should be a little bit less expensive, but the cost will be close. At this point
I would say it is a wash. It is tough to say because we have not received the
bids for the next three phases, once we know what the bids are, we will have a
better idea of the cost."
Donovan said he expects to receive bids for phase two in the next few weeks, and
have bids secured for phase three by April.
Phase one began Dec. 17, with contractors beginning to remove fixtures and
furniture from classrooms and storage areas within the school's library as well
as the A and C academic wings. Items such as white boards, televisions, ceiling
tiles and fixtures that the department wants to keep and re-use will be removed
so that phase two of the project can begin, hopefully by the first week of
February.
Phase two will see contractors tearing down interior walls and demolishing
portions of the existing slab, along with the relocation of underground
electrical wiring. This phase should be complete by April.
Phase three, which also takes place in the same area of the school, will revolve
around the pounding of the mini-piles, along with the installation of grade
beams and new portions of the slab to support the building. This process should
begin in the second week of May and continue through November.
Phase four will take place in the D wing of the school, along with a portion of
the cafeteria, kitchen and boiler rooms. Much of the work here will take place
on the exterior of the building, and should be completed by September or October
of 2009.
Donovan says freshmen, who have been attending classes at the former Classical
High School located in the Fecteau-Leary building on North Common Street, should
be able to return to the school even if phase four isn't complete, because most
of that work will be on the exterior of the building.
Classical Construction to Start December 5
LYNN-Construction on the freshman wing of Classical High School, found to be sinking into the ground last year, will begin Dec. 5, Superintendent Nicholas Kostan said at Thursday night’s School Committee meeting.
Lynn Classical Work to Begin in Fall
Superintendent of Schools Nicholas Kostan said the bids have gone out to shore up Classical High School’s sinking foundation and it is expected construction will begin in the late fall or early winter. He said the work would take 18 to 24 months to complete.“All the programs offered at
the main school will be offered to those kids,” he said. “We will have a bus
to transport kids playing sports or involved with extra activities n clubs,
band, whatever n and take them from (Lynn Common) to the main building at the
end of the school day.”
Kostan said the repairs would cost a total of $15 million — $10 million from a
legal settlement with the architect and engineering firm involved in the
original construction, $4 million from a bond approved by the City Council and
$1 million from the city budget.
“At least we can see a light at the end of the tunnel,” Kostan said.
Webmaster Notes: We have already started to see the plans go into motion. The 9th grade teachers are anticipating this temporary move and packing up books and materials. The Applied Technology Department has already moved upstairs from the first floor. Principal White and the Department Heads have made plans to keep everything running smoothly. Doctor Frost, former Classical Principal and Assistant Superintendent, has taken on the task of coordinating all the temporary changes. Plans are underway to make sure the freshmen have the same level of services and extra-curricular opportunities as the upperclassmen. The faculty is looking forward to the time when the work will be finished and the building will be better than new.
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Lynn Plans Repairs to Four Schools
LYNN -- Repairs or maintenance are
planned for four public schools, including Fecteau-Leary as it prepares to
reprise its role as Classical High School.
The North Common Street school will be outfitted to temporarily hold classrooms
for Classical High students while major repairs to Classical’s foundation and
walls are undertaken.
The Classical work will take 18 to 24 months to do. Ninth graders entering
Classical will attend Fecteau-Leary next year before entering Classical in their
sophomore year.
School Superintendent Nicholas Kostan said the 2007-2008 freshmen class totals
262 students to date. The following year’s freshmen will also attend Fecteau-Leary
for a year before going on to Classical.
Kostan said the Fecteau Leary work has started and will include classroom
renovations and plumbing work as well as work in the school laboratory areas.
The repairs will be completed in June or July when painting is done.
The School Committee transferred $300,000 from other accounts at its March 29
meeting to pay for the Fecteau-Leary repairs.
“We’ve identified money to spruce up and do repair projects. The building is
basically empty except for the Career Development Center,” Kostan said.
Repairs are also planned for the Pickering/Sisson school complex where the steam
boiler requires partial replacement work and at Brickett School where exterior
masonry work is planned.
The Lynn Vocational Technical Institute swimming pool also needs repairs.
Prospective contractors for the three projects will meet with city officials
over the next month.
The work is being done as part of a $10 million school spending authorization
approved by voters a year ago. Kostan said the priority for the school work is
heating systems in older schools like Brickett as well as new roofs for Ford,
Sisson and Breed, where a replacement roof cost $1 million.
“That money is all going into essential work,” he said.
Classical Freshmen Will Move this Fall
( 9th Grade to spend one school year in the original Classical building. )
Webmaster's note : If the repairs do take more than one school year, the 2007-2008 freshman class will be moving back to the new building, and the next freshman class will take their place. During the reconstruction on the first floor, all work will be done when students are not in the building.
LYNN - School Committee members voted Thursday to relocate the incoming Classical High School freshman to the Fecteau-Leary building this fall so the sinking slab (on the first floor) can be repaired.LCHS Principal Warren
White presented the Lynn School Committee with a plan of action Thursday,
explaining why the Fecteau-Leary building is the best fit for Classical High
School’s incoming freshman. School committee members later unanimously agreed.
“This is a building that I trust we can utilize until we rectify the situation
that is going on O’Callaghan Way,” White said. “This building served as
the home of Classical High School for many years, and I feel we can make this
work.”
The plan would be for incoming freshmen to enter the building at the start of
the fall 2007- 08 school year. Construction is not set to begin at O’Callaghan
Way until October or November, and is projected to take 18-24 months,
Superintendent Nicholas Kostan said.
White said his plan is use this transition as a benefit to the students,
building a smaller learning community and stronger relationships between the
expected 250-275 students that plan to attend this fall. He said that 25 percent
of Classical High School’s resources, including one full-time acting vice
principal (whose identity is yet to be determined), one guidance counselor and
appropriate professional and support staff determined by enrollment to “be
able to service all of our ninth-graders the best we can.”
Kostan said the building is currently empty, except for the students from the
Career Development Center whom use the basement and the first floor. White said
this would not be a problem, and arrangements are being made to allow room for
the freshmen on the second and third floors.
He also said that this would be a chance to try something new, giving the
incoming freshmen the opportunity to have a one-on-one relationship with faculty
and staff, and to build a strong bond that would continue on for the rest of
their high school years. Kostan said school attendance officer Rick Iarrobino
and his attendance staff, along with Lynn Police Department Liaison for School
Security and Emergency Planning Officer Robert Ferrari would have their offices
placed within the Fecteau-Leary building throughout this time as well.
He also said the fact that the number of students currently projected to enter
Classical for their freshmen year is something that he was grateful to learn.
“That number speaks volumes about how the community feels about this
situation,” he said. “We’ve looked at a lot of options and this seems to
be the most economical and best opportunity for these students.”
Repairs to Classical will be paid for using $8.3 million the city received from
the building’s architect and engineers in a legal settlement, $4 million from
a bond the City Council approved in February, $1 million from the $10 million
bond voters approved in February, $1 approved in March 2006, $300,000 to
$400,000 from the existing School Department budget, and $300,000 to $400,000
from the existing city budget.
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Reprinted from The Lynn Journal, 2/28/07
Although Lynn Classical’s building (
first floor) is slowly sinking into the ground, its academics and attention to
detail by the teaching staff and the administration has led to a final
evaluation report that shines from the Capital Area Technical Center.
The final version of the school’s evaluation report has been distributed. The
report details that Lynn Classical, according to the New England Association of
Schools and Colleges Commission on Secondary Schools, is doing much more than
meeting its obligations, and that with regard to mission and expectations,
curriculum, and instruction, Classical meets the criteria for a high school with
very high standards.
The school was studied by the commission for 26 months, from March 2004 to May
2006. This intense look into what is going on – and what isn’t ongoing at
Classical – will lead to its accreditation – a remarkable situation
considering the significant distraction caused by the sinking building.
The report details a school administration looking closely at itself and being
critical of itself, of teachers committed and insightful, caring and concerned
about teaching modalities. The final report uses language like experienced and
trusted to describe administrators of the school, which it refers to as a team.
The report discusses the school’s mission statement and expectations for
students and whether or not it adds up with the experience the student receives
while at the school. It talks about faculty pedagogy and teaching methodologies.
The report finds the need for a strong emphasis on a vertical curricular
alignment and that common sense and a common assessment strategy will allow
staff members and students to share a common language for continuous improvement
in education.
The report details a high school with students showing one another respect, and
that respect for others is a paramount requirement.
Overall, the report gives parents and those of us who have read the report, an
insider’s look into the management of Classical High School. It is a highly
detailed somewhat difficult report to understand except to say that the reader
comes away with the feeling that the folks running Classical High School and the
young people attending school there are in a day-to-day battle to do the right
thing, to improve communication and teaching skills, to upgrade curriculum, to
have the mission statement meet reality in the truest sense.
This is a fabulous report which reflects well upon the school and the school
administration.
Congratulations.
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Bond Approval Paves Way for Classical Repairs !
LYNN -- After the City Council approved a $4 million bond
authorization Tuesday night, school and city officials can now concentrate on
permanent fixes to Classical High School.
“We in the School Department are very pleased with the Council for supporting
Mayor (Edward J.) Clancy’s request for the rehabilitation of the Classical
High School project,” School Superintendent Nicholas Kostan said. “The bond
is absolutely necessary to help provide a permanent fix on all of the academic
areas in the building, in addition to many other areas, to provide a permanent
fix and provide critical support services for our students.”
Clancy, who proposed the $4 million bond authorization last month in the hopes
of keeping the 7-year-old sinking building open and safe for students, faculty,
and staff, said he is grateful to see how responsibly everyone involved has
acted in such a stressful situation. The next step is to begin searching for
bids.
“We’re starting to see the end of things, but this is just the beginning,”
he said. “At least we’ve got things in place to try to get a major part of
the work fixed immediately.”
School Principal Warren White also said he was grateful for all the hard work
that was put toward the bond approval.
“The Council was presented with all of the facts, both from in terms of what
we live with everyday as well as from the experts,” he said. “(The Council)
also researched what the financial impact would be on the city, with and without
taking this step forward, which showed tremendous leadership.”
Both Kostan and White agreed that the Council worked very hard to fully
understand the situation at hand.
“They lived up to what we expect as a City Council,” White said. “It also
speaks to the teamwork between the Council, the mayor, and the
superintendent.”
Kostan said he was also grateful councilors took the initiative to step up and
make the best decision possible for everyone involved.
“I personally wish to thank everyone on the Council that voted yes, and
(Council President) Tim Phelan for his leadership (during) this discussion
relative to the $4 million bond issue,” he said. “We are very pleased that
we have a starting point for the rehabilitation. We definitely have made
progress and are making a step in the right direction.”
The city sued 11 firms involved in the construction of the school’s sinking
slab in March 2005, estimating approximately $20-25 million in building repairs.
City attorneys recently negotiated an $8.3 million settlement from building
architect Symmes, Maini and McKee Associates and engineer GZA GeoEnvironmental
Inc. after a two-day mediation in Boston.
Following the settlement, Clancy met with school and city officials to knock
down the cost to roughly $14 million by proposing to make permanent repairs to
the sections of the school that are most in need, but needed City Council
approval to approve the $4 million bond to reach that total. That $4 million
will be added to the $8 million in settlement money, $1 million from the $10
million bond voters approved in March 2006, $300,000-$400,000 from the existing
School Department budget and $300,000-$400,000 from the existing city budget.
Kostan Wants Classical Freshmen Sent to Fecteau-Leary
LYNN -- Schools Superintendent Nicholas Kostan told City Council members that the only choice to make in repairing Classical High’s sinking slab is to approve the $4 million bond authorization proposed by Mayor Edward J. Clancy earlier this month. And while those repairs are being made, Kostan strongly recommended that the city send incoming freshmen to the Fecteau-Leary School.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Webmaster Notes: As a daily occupant in the High School, and in order to put this issue in perspective, I would like to state that Classical High School is not actually sinking. The entire school building is supported by 50' steel beams going down to solid bedrock. Only the first floor was designed with floating concrete slabs, which is settling and not working as intended. All areas of concern are continually being tested by professionals, including structural and air quality. Repairs so far have been made in advance of any potential problems. Overall, the administration, faculty, and support staff are pleased with all the efforts being made to ensure student health and safety. sb
Lynn Receives $8.85M Settlement from Engineer and ArchitectsAlthough city officials said they are pleased to put an end to this portion of the battle to recoup reconstruction costs, the city is far from having the funds necessary to complete the job.
Despite the fact that the settlement is 92 percent of the firms’ available insurance allowance, Mayor Edward J. Clancy Jr. said the city still has a lot of work to do.
“This is not the beginning of the end, this is the end of the beginning,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of blood, sweat and tears to be put into Classical.”
The total damage of the sinking slab on O’Callaghan Way has been estimated at $20 million-$25 million and the city will continue to seek restitution from nine other firms it sued in March 2005.
Assistant City Solicitor George Markopoulos said after spending many hours in mediation on both Monday and Tuesday and working well into Tuesday evening, architect Symmes, Maini and McKee Associates and engineer GZA GeoEnvironmental Inc. will give the city $8,350,000 in cash and SMMA will also give an estimated $500,000 in professional services.
Clancy said the next step is to determine where the money will go, adding that he will be meeting with city and school officials Thursday morning.
“The proceeds of the settlement are going to have to be augmented to the amount of work necessary to make that building safe and secure for the foreseeable future,” he said. “The longer this goes, the worse the situation becomes.”
In a written statement to The Daily Item, representatives from SMMA said, “We are pleased to have reached a resolution with the city of Lynn. From the start of this project through the end of our contractual obligations to today, we have been professionally committed to the quality and integrity of our work and to our client. Our goal has always been to ensure that Lynn Classical High School is a quality facility for years to come. Through a professional and impartial review, we have reached a fair agreement that is the best possible outcome for the students of Lynn.”
Superintendent of Schools Nicholas Kostan said he is glad to see this part of the issue come to and end, and is preparing himself for what is next to come.
“We don’t have all the answers but at least we have a starting point. Now we just have to plan on how the remediation of the school and remove any potential structural problems,” he said. “Now is when the hard work begins.”
Clancy said he is pleased with the hard work and professionalism of all involved.
“I’m satisfied that we made the best possible settlement given some very significant legal hurdles that we would have had to overcome prior to and during trial,” he said. “I saw it at the best interest of the city of Lynn to accept the number that the mediator brought to the table, and continue to move forward with a reconstruction renovation of Classical High School.”
Estimates for repairing the building include $14 million-$19 million to repair the sinking slab the schools sits on; $3.7 million to remove mold behind exterior walls; $3 million to move students to alternate locations while work is completed, and $1.2 million spent to date on engineering studies and other costs.
Other outstanding litigation relates to conditions on the exterior of the building, which have caused interior damage such as faulty windows, skylights, and a separation of exterior façade work. Preliminary estimates to repair these issues currently stand at $4 million.
Classical High School Repair Cost Climbs by Nearly $4M
Building Firms Pledge to Help
School
By Thor Jourgensen, The Daily Item of Lynn,
Thursday, February 9, 2006
LYNN - The city
could be one step closer to working with firms involved in Classical High
School's construction to solve costly problems related to the school's sinking
foundation.
After meeting with firm representatives Wednesday, assistant city solicitor
George Markopoulos said the companies plan to submit proposals to the city in
four to six weeks offering ways to resolve the foundation problem.
Symmes, Maini, McKee Associates designed the Holyoke Street school and GZA
Environmental was the engineering firm involved in Classical's construction from
1997 to 2000.
The city sued the two companies and nine other firms last March but wants
to reach a financial settlement or arrive at other solutions for repairing the
building.
"The hope is we don't have to spend three or four years in litigation. This
meeting is the first in what probably will be a series of meetings. This is only
a first step, but a good step," Markopoulos said.
A consultant estimated the city must spend $14 million to $19 million to repair
the concrete slab the school sits on. The slab is sinking into the former
landfill underneath Classical, creating cracks in floors and walls and damaging
doorways and cabinets.
The city has already spent $800,000 on expert reports on the damage and
temporary repairs.
City officials estimate they need to spend $3 million in addition to school
repair costs to provide alternative locations for Classical's students to attend
school and transportation to get them to and from those locations.
Markopoulos declined to guess on what proposals the Symmes and other firms will
offer to help the city. He said firm representatives on Wednesday questioned,
but did not dispute, city officials' descriptions of problems uncovered at the
school since 2000.
"They acknowledged the severity of the situation and said they want
to work with the city," he said. "I thought it was a very productive
first meeting with genuine interest on both sides to resolve the matter."
If you would like to see the Channel 4 TV Station story click onto the following web site http://cbs4boston.com/seenon/local_story_030155441.html
LYNN -- Closing Classical High School to fix its sinking first floor will start a game of musical chairs for students across Lynn public schools. Classical's 1,500 students and staff must be relocated to other schools in the city, probably starting in September 2007 and lasting at least 18 months. Students likely will be split between the old Classical High on Lynn Common and a wing of Lynn Vocational Technical Institute on Commercial Street.
But that also would push students and staff now working in those locations, including middle school students, special education teachers, and administrators, to other schools. The old Classical building and space at Lynn Tech also would have to be renovated to accommodate hundreds of new students, officials said.
''This is going to have a broad impact on our school system," said Superintendent of Schools Nicholas P. Kostan ''Our plan is to keep the kids at Classical as long as we can, right up to the time it has to close."
Classical, a $37.3 million school open for just six years, must close because its first floor is sinking into the ground, causing widespread damage to the building. The concrete pad must be ripped up, and steel pilings put down to support a new floor, to save the three-story building.
Modular classrooms are another possibility, but the city is unsure where it would locate the dozens of temporary buildings it would need to accommodate the 1,500 students.
''The state seems very interested in that option," said Mayor Edward J. Clancy Jr., who met last week with state education officials at Classical. ''But off the top of my head, I don't know where we'd put them. A lot of logistics still need to be worked out."
The cost to repair Classical and relocate its students and others affected by their move is estimated at $25 million. Lynn, the North Shore's largest public school district with almost 15,000 students, is looking to the state for financial help.
The city so far has spent almost $1 million to hire engineers to identify problems at the school, plus conduct air quality tests and other measures, to make sure the building remains safe for students.
Classical students do not seem to notice. Students said they have have grown used to engineers popping into classrooms to measure cracks in floors and walls or take air samples. But some are also anxious about moving out of a school they love. ''Classical is my home," said Fred Mathieu, 17, a junior, during lunch in the cafeteria. ''But people make up a school, regardless of what building you're in."
Just six years after opening, the $37.3 million high school is falling apart.
Why? Because the concrete first floor sits on top of an old dump, filled mostly with rotting wood, without the steel pilings necessary to support it, according to a recently released engineering report.
''There aren't many schools where you can stick your hand into the wall," said Superintendent of Schools Nicholas P. Kostan, sliding his fingers between two bricks outside the auditorium.
In an unrelated problem, bricks have recently begun to crack, bulge, and fall from the school's facade, raising new questions about the quality of the building's construction, 90 percent of which was paid for by the state.
At a time when local school construction projects face new state scrutiny, the Classical debacle has become a glaring example of flaws in the state's school building assistance program, which is being revamped to include more state oversight. Katherine Craven, executive director of the Massachusetts School Building Authority, called Classical the worst example of a school construction project gone wrong in the state.
''I don't think anyone has ever seen anything like this before," said Craven, who toured the school on Monday. ''To have that disorienting sense, of walking up and down in a room, is disturbing."
Lynn estimates it will cost $25 million to fix the school and relocate its 1,500 students and staff. The school must close for at least 18 months while the first floor is ripped out and a new slab, supported by pilings, is put down, officials said.
The city has filed a lawsuit alleging negligence and breach of contract against 11 companies, including architect Symmes Maini & McKee Associates of Cambridge and GZA GeoEnvironmental Inc. of Norwood, the firm that conducted a ground analysis, including soil testing, before construction.
''Classical is a fiasco," said Mayor Edward J. Clancy Jr., who is also chairman of the Lynn School Committee.
While communities across the state have filed lawsuits against contractors involved in school construction projects, most are limited to isolated problems, Craven said.
''Right now, this is the highest-profile piece of school litigation in Massachusetts," she said. ''Usually, it's a case of a contractor versus a subcontractor, not something dealing with the entire [structure] of a building."
Kenneth Walton, a lawyer representing the architect and GZA, did not return calls seeking comment.
Since 1998, Lynn has received $19 million in state reimbursement and is scheduled to receive $30 million more from the cash-strapped agency by 2016. The total of $49 million includes the state's 90 percent share plus interest related to financing, the city said.
Craven said the state may join the city's lawsuit, but first will review the city's legal complaint, along with the engineering report completed last month by Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc. of Waltham, which was hired by the city in 2003.
''The state does have a 90 percent investment in this building," Craven said. ''We will certainly look carefully at their legal filings."
And more litigation could follow.
Simpson Gumpertz & Heger has completed a separate report on the building's yellow-brick facade. It recommends removing the facade, beset by falling and bulging bricks in recent years, because they were improperly laid.
The city has sent the report to the city's attorneys and another engineering company for further review. ''What they're recommending is a very big job," said Michael Donovan, the city's director of inspectional services. ''That's why we want somebody else to look at it. . . . But this has nothing to do with the sinking slab."
Most of Classical's damage is confined to the first floor. The building's footprint sits on steel pilings, so the external walls are not sinking, and the top two floors appear undamaged. But the first floor -- which includes mostly public space, such as the gym -- consists only of a concrete slab placed on top of soil.
Unless a new slab supported by pilings is put down, the first floor could sink another 3 to 6 inches by 2019, effectively making the building useless, according to the report. ''There is no indication that it is going to stop anytime soon," said Aaron Lewis, senior engineer at Simpson, Gumpertz & Heger.
The report faults Symmes Maini for using a so-called slab-on-grade design in this location. GZA GeoEnvironmental also miscalculated how much the slab would settle into the ground, the report said. William Hover, a senior principal at GZA GeoEnvironmental, declined to comment, citing the litigation.
Timothy Grobleski, chief financial officer at Symmes Maini McKee Associates, said the firm will review the report soon with Simpson Gumpertz & Heger. ''We have some questions, and additional information," Grobelski said. ''This has never happened to us before. . . . All along, we relied on our geotechnical [firm] for advice on foundation design."
Clancy hopes an out-of-court settlement can be reached. City lawyers are scheduled to meet with lawyers for Symmes Maini and GZA on Feb. 8. ''I am confident, given the report, that negligence and liabilities have been established," he said. ''But that said, that doesn't mean a check is in the mail."
Lynn is looking to the state for help. Clancy has met twice with Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey to discuss financing options, such as a loan. ''I'm not looking for a gift," Clancy said. ''We cannot finance this locally."
Lynn is turning to the state at a time when the School Building Authority is cracking down on costly school construction projects. The agency, which is not accepting applications for new projects until July 2007, last week said it will no longer fund cost overruns for school projects.
Although Classical's problem is different, Craven is noncommital about providing funding. ''We have to see, realistically, how much it is going to cost," she said. ''What I really hope is that there is a settlement, and the insurance companies pay. . . . This is an awful building that really doesn't serve its purpose."
Outraged parents agree. ''People are curious," said Terry Richard, cochairwoman of the Classical School Council, an advisory group. ''Everyone is wondering how this could have happened."
Classical, which was completed in 1998 and opened in 1999, was built on a former construction landfill on O'Callaghan Way. The recent engineering report concluded the site was a poor choice for the three-story high school. But at the time the site was chosen, Classical was struggling to save its reputation and move from an outdated building on Lynn Common.
The New England Association of Schools and Colleges had threatened to pull its accreditation due to overcrowding and poor facilities in the previous building, which was built more than 80 years ago. ''We were under some real pressure," said James Leonard, who was school superintendent at the time. ''Accreditation was a real concern. We knew we needed to replace that school."
A school building committee, made up of the building commissioner and principals of the city's three public high schools, scouted sites. Lynn, like other cities, did not have a lot of parcels large enough to satisfy the state's 30-acre requirement to build a high school.
Lynn Woods Reservation, Barry Park, and land owned by
The City Council instead voted to take the privately owned landfill by eminent domain in August 1996, city records show. The building committee then issued a request for proposals for architects to submit designs. Symmes Maini McKee Associates was selected in partnership with Perkins and Will of New York. GZA was hired to analyze soils and prepare the site.
''There are no villains in the closet here," Leonard said. ''We picked the best available site, hired the architect, and the state approved the site and design."
Clancy, who was Lynn's state senator when Classical was built, agreed the city is not at fault. Although the city appointed the building committee, project manager, and clerk of the works to run the job, those people were not responsible for spotting flaws in design or engineering, he said.
''We don't have people with the types of training to identify mistakes of that magnitude," Clancy said.
''That's why we hired experts. We paid them a lot of money. Obviously, it didn't work out."
When Classical was built, the state exercised little control over local school construction projects. The state school building program, then part of the Department of Education, did not get a second opinion on a project's design and did not approve project managers.
But amid claims of lax oversight, the Legislature last year created the School Building Authority to revamp regulations. Changes included requiring a peer review of a project's design and giving the state final say over who is hired as a project manager.
''We believe in multiple pairs of eyes," Craven said. ''We want to avoid more costly problems."
Kathy McCabe can be reached at kmccabe@globe.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Classical Not Likely to Close until 2007
Student shuffle set for September
Changes Probably Won't Happen Until Classical is Ready
The State of Classical High School 1/04/06
The long-awaited Engineering Report about the condition of Classical High School is finally available. The following Engineering Report from Simpson Gumpertz and Heger, experts in the field, has been excerpted from The Lynn Journal. The second part of their report, labeled Legal, was written to identify the parties believed responsible for errors in design and construction of Classical High School.
School Building Method Faulted
By Kathy McCabe, Boston Globe Staff |, January 1, 2006
Lynn Classical High School is sinking into the ground six years after completion because it was built without the proper foundation on an old construction dump, according to a new engineering report.
The foundation, put on a slab of concrete over the capped landfill, has caused walls to crumble, floors to crack, and utility pipes to rupture, among other problems at the 120,000-square-foot school on O'Callaghan Way in West Lynn, the report said.
The damage ''is a direct result of this choice of slab-on-grade," according to the report prepared for the city by Simpson, Gumpertz & Heger Inc., a national engineering firm with an office in Waltham.
Slab-on-grade is a type of foundation built with a concrete pad on soil. At Classical, the slab is supported by steel pilings driven into land filled with wood, sheetrock, and other construction materials dumped there decades ago. Those materials are now decomposing faster than expected, causing the building to sink, the report said.
Mayor Edward J. Clancy Jr. said he is not surprised by the findings. ''It proves to us that this school was badly designed," said Clancy, who did not hold office when the school was designed and built. ''That said, there will be no easy solution to how we fix this."
A second report by Simpson, Gumpertz & Heger will outline the amount of time and money it will take to correct the problems at Classical, which opened in 2001. The $40 million school, with a capacity of 1,500 students, was paid for with 90 percent state funding.
Architect Symmes, Maini & McKee Inc. of Cambridge and GZA GeoEnvironmental Inc. of Norwood did not properly assess the risk involved in building the school on the former dump site, even though materials are buried deep in the ground, the report said.
''It is our opinion that the design team bears the responsibility for the observed settlement-related damage to the school building . . . and utility lines . . . due to inappropriate foundation design," the report states.
Tim Grobleski, executive vice president of Symmes Maini & McKee Inc., said of the report, ''We are reviewing it and will work cooperatively with the city of Lynn to make sure there is a resolution to the problem."
A manager at GZA GeoEnvironmental Inc. declined to comment on the report. ''We'll be in further communication with the city," said William H. Hover, the office manager at the firm's Norwood headquarters.
The city filed a lawsuit against Symmes Maini & McKee, GZA GeoEnvironmental, and other firms involved in the design and construction of the school building. The report's findings could prompt the city to drop some from the litigation. ''It appears the number of defendants may be more limited," Clancy said.
The engineering report, made public last week, followed more than a year of study by Simpson, Gumpertz & Heger. The firm reviewed the project's contracts, timeline, and construction plans. The school was built in 1997-1998. The report called the old dump a ''poor choice" for the school's construction.
It is unclear how the school will be fixed, but plans are in the works to relocate students, faculty, and staff during construction. One option would split the school in half, with freshmen and sophomores attending the old Classical High on Lynn Common and juniors and seniors going to Lynn Vocational Technical Institute. The School Committee must still approve the plan, however.
Putting up portable classrooms at the Lynn campus of North Shore Community College, which would allow Classical High to stay together, is another option. Clancy met recently with Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey and state education officials to discuss possible state funding for the project. ''Both have signaled they would help us," Clancy said.
Brenda J. Buote of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
Classical Repairs may Require School to be Closed for up to 18 Months
Firms Blamed for Classical Mess
By Jill Gadsby, The Daily Item of Lynn, Friday, December 23, 2005
LYNN - The structural engineering and architectural firm that designed Classical High School and the firm it hired to do geotechnical-site preparation are responsible for the school's settling problem, an engineering report issued Thursday said.
Simpson Gumpertz and Heger Inc., the engineering consulting firm hired by the city to find the cause of the settling, concluded that the Cambridge-based Symmes, Maini and McKee (SMMA) and GZA GeoEnvironmental Inc. of Newton made several poor choices in the construction of the building.
Problems at the $40 million building began immediately after the school opened in September of 1999, due to the settlement of the slab-on-grade configuration built over a solid waste landfill.
Among the damages are crumbling walls, two-inch gaps where one part of the building has pulled away from another, buckled ceiling tiles, cracked and lifted floor tiles, shattered trophy case glass, misaligned doors and jagged floor-to-ceiling cracks in the walls.
According to the report, the slab-on-grade built over compacted construction debris was a poor choice for the site.
"The observed ongoing settlement damage at the Lynn Classical High School is a direct result of this choice of slab-on-grade," the report states.
The report also said GZA was "overly optimistic" when it assessed the conditions underneath the site and its potential for future settlement. The report said published literature was available that would have shown expected settlements may be higher than GZA indicated, considering the nature of the debris.
Mayor Edward J. Clancy Jr. said reading the report's conclusions brought his frustrations to the forefront.
"The frustration I feel for this whole Classical situation can't be quantified in words fit for your newspaper," he said. "It makes my blood boil." The report asserts GZA did not use good quality control of the deep dynamic compaction process performed on the debris beneath the building, which likely resulted in larger settlement.
Finally, the report said there was a "complete lack of instrumented monitoring" on the conditions at the site after compaction. Had the firm monitored the compaction, the report said alterations in the design scheme could have been implemented to prevent further settling. Clancy said the report means the city can try to recoup money for the project.
"The conclusions clearly indicate negligence on the part of the architect, and the structural engineers and the geotechnical engineers," he said. "The city hired them and paid them a lot of money to do this work and (the report) is helpful in beginning to work our way through this maze. The architects and the engineers and the geotechnical people did not do (this work) in a professional manner. That having been said, it does not solve this by any stretch of the imagination.
"This is a long road," he continued. "There is no panacea. There is no magic wand. This is the first mile or two of a marathon." Assistant City Solicitor George Markopoulos said he has provided the report to Ken Walton, the attorney representing SMMA and GZA. He said he plans to meet with Walton and other representatives of the firms in the upcoming weeks. "We will probably have our experts make a presentation," he said. "Maybe we will start talking settlement rather than litigation. "Walton did not return phone messages left at his office Thursday.
Both Markopoulos and Clancy said a second report, which is expected to provide the city with several repair options and costs, is due today or Monday. It has been estimated that repairs will cost at least $10 million and could take up to 18 months.
Kostan Told to Prepare Now for Classical High Closing
Mayor Says
it's too Soon to Make Call on Classical
By Jill Gadsby, The Daily Item of Lynn, Thursday,
December 8, 2005
LYNN - There is one
more name to add to the list of people who eagerly await the engineering report
on Classical High School - Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey.
Mayor Edward J. Clancy Jr. met with Healey Wednesday to discuss ongoing issues
with the sinking school, and was quick to say everyone in the city needs to take
a step back until something definitive is known about the school.
The meeting, set up by North Shore Community College President Wayne Burton, was
to discuss the possibility of using state bond financing to provide temporary
classrooms at North Shore Community College should the city need to relocate
students from the sinking Classical High School.
Clancy would not comment on the outcome of that discussion, but called the
meeting interesting.
He also said that Healey "(clearly showed) a desire to be helpful."
The School Committee is expected tonight to address a plan for relocating
Classical students at the former Classical High and the Lynn Tech annex.
"We explained that Lynn Classical High School should be the cornerstone of
the Lynn School System, but it has become an anchor on the school system because
of the potential problems that surround the future of the building," he
said. "Lots of speculation has gone on about what the problems are, but
until we see this report I can't firmly tell the lieutenant governor what the
nature and the depths of those problems are."
Clancy said Healey tried to arrange a meeting with a representative from
the now-defunct School Building Assistance Bureau to offer guidance on the
situation, since SBAB paid for 90 percent of the construction costs to build
Classical.
"Unfortunately, she wasn't in the State House," he said, adding that
the report holds most of the answers.
"This whole Classical issue is large, is complicated and there is no
panacea to this," he said. "As we speak this minute, no one has seen
the report on Lynn Classical High School. There is nothing that tells me in
writing by professional engineering consultants as to a conclusion regarding
Lynn Classical High School. I can't live in speculation."
It still remains unknown if the $40 million school will have to be closed to fix
damages caused by the settlement of its slab-on-grade configuration. The
engineering report, which has been due since May, is expected to outline the
extent of the damage, what options exist should repair be necessary and what
each option would cost.
__________________________________________________
School Board
Members Back Plan to Relocate Students
The Daily Item of Lynn, Wednesday, December 7, 2005
Although it is
unlikely they will vote on it before January, members the School Committee said
they support the plan to house displaced Classical students at old Classical
High School and the Lynn Vocational Technical Institute Annex should the school
close for repairs.
While no decision has been made to close the school, Inspectional Services
Director Michael Donovan said it is possible the sinking school building - built
over a city landfill - may have to be closed for up to 18 months in order to
shore up its foundation.
"Looking at everything, this is the best we can hope for, for now,"
John Ford said. "I plan on voting for it. We're making the best out of a
real lousy situation. There is no good solution right now."
Donna Coppola agreed that the North Common and Commercial street facilities
present the best option.
"It really makes the best sense," she said. "If there is no other
building they could use and keep them all together, it, to me, is the best plan.
It seems to be the best option - we can still make it feel like it is their high
school."
Jeff Newhall said he also supports the plan.
"No situation is going to be ideal - no matter what we do there is going to
be disruption," he said. "But after looking at all the options, I like
this one because there is the least amount of disruption citywide and it made
the most sense and provides the easiest transition. All the other plans created
significant problems for other schools or other people. This provides the best
option if Classical closes."
Vice Chairman Patti Capano said it is important the traditional high school
atmosphere is preserved.
"There is no good answer, but the kids want to keep their own identity - a
Ram is a Ram - a Ram doesn't want to share a Bulldog," she said, referring
to the mascots of Classical and English High School. "I want to be able to
keep their high school memories intact. I want to see us keep the school
community together as much as possible."
Ford said he thinks the school can be split up successfully. "We're
working on a plan to continue all extra-curricular activities," he said.
"(Principal Warren White) was very concerned about losing the Classical
concept, but he talked about bringing the classes together in the City Hall
Auditorium for assemblies and keeping the Classical family intact. Warren's big
on that and I am too. (Deputy Superintendent) Ray Bastarache said adversity has
a funny way of bringing people together and, hopefully, this will rally everyone
around."
Coppola said she hopes parents also see the plan as the best option.
"They have probably never seen (the Tech Annex) before and don't realize
what a nice building it is," she said. "Once they do, they might see
it as maybe a good option. I want the teachers, the students and the parents
especially to be very comfortable."
Capano said she hopes the committee agrees to start preparing for the move now.
"The biggest issue is that we have to be sure that if programs are removed
from their space, that we have a proper space to go to," she said. "If
that means transferring other agencies into other buildings, let's get that
rolling so we're not displacing all of these groups at once."
Ford agreed, saying preparations at the old Classical need to begin immediately.
"I think we need to get that building cleaned out as quick as
possible," he said.
Capano said it is hard to make any decisions without a timeline, which won't be
available until a long-awaited engineering report is received.
"The 'when' is the biggest question and gamble," she said. "The
senior class may never have to go through this - you don't know."
School Committee members Daniel Cahill and Arthur Fiste could not be
reached for comment.
________________________________________________________________
Mayor Clancy, Lt. Governor
Healey to have Meeting about Classical HS
By Thor Jourgensen, The Daily Item of Lynn,
Wednesday, December 7, 2005
LYNN - While
Superintendent of Schools Nicholas Kostan has recommended dividing upperclassmen
and underclassmen between the old Classical High School the Lynn Tech Annex,
Mayor Edward J. Clancy, Jr. meets with Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey today to discuss
another possible option to relocate Classical students if their schools is
closed for rebuilding.
Clancy plans to ask Healey if state bond financing can be used to provide
temporary quarters at North Shore Community College for Classical High School.
The college's overcrowded Broad Street campus is on a list of public colleges in
line to receive state money to construct new buildings.
Clancy on Tuesday said his meeting with Healey could determine if some of the
money can be used to provide portable classrooms or other space on the college
campus for Classical students.
"In the short term, there might be something we could use," the mayor
said.
The meeting could give Clancy a chance to flesh out one more option for
educating Classical students while efforts to repair and shore up the sinking
West Lynn high school are under way.
North Shore's Lynn campus is one of several sites school officials discussed as
temporary locations for students while repairs are under way. College President
Wayne Burton asked Healey last week to meet with Clancy. Healey is a North Shore
resident who has been involved in the college.
"She is very interested and was not aware of what was happening in
Lynn," Burton said.
City officials are waiting to read an engineering firm's report by the end of
the month before sitting down with the architects and other specialists who
designed and approved Classical's construction on a former city dump.
"We're hoping that the strength of the report will weigh heavily on the
defendants' decision not to proceed to litigation," Assistant City
Solicitor George Markopoulos said.
______________________________________________________________
Lynn has Plan
for Classical Students
By Jill Gadsby, The Daily Item of Lynn, Tuesday,
December 6, 2005
LYNN - Classical's
upperclassmen and underclassmen will be split between the old Classical High
School on North Common Street and the Lynn Vocational Technical Institute Annex
on Commercial Street, should Classical have to be closed for repairs.
Superintendent of Schools Nicholas Kostan said he plans to reveal more details
about the plan at Thursday's School Committee meeting.
"Nothing is etched in stone because the School Committee hasn't voted on
it," he said, "but in principle, we're looking at these two
facilities." Classical High School Principal
Warren White said he supports the plan.
"Out of all the plans we've explored - we've explored a lot and there's no
great one - this one here has some merit," he said. "It allows us to
maintain our identity and provide services to our students."
Other options explored by officials have included split sessions at English High
School and use of space at North Shore Community College.
Members of the School Committee have said they would not support the use of
English High, and White said NSCC only has classrooms available between 1-5 p.m.
"It really doesn't look like something that would meet our needs," he
told members of the Classical School Council Monday.
Kostan said relocating students to the old Classical and the Tech Annex will
work the best of all the options explored.
"There will be a minimum of disruption," he said. "They will be
able to go during normal hours - we really wanted the kids to experience a
normal school day and be able to participate in any extra-curricular activities.
We think we can do it if we have the cooperation of everybody involved."
Kostan said he has already presented the plan to the faculty of both Tech and
Classical, as well as the Classical High School Alumni Association and the
Classical School Council.
"Everybody has been really understanding at both schools," he
said.
It still remains unknown if the $40 million school will have to be closed
to fix damages caused by the settlement of its slab-on-grade configuration. City
and school officials continue to wait for an engineering report that is expected
to outline the extent of the damage, what options exist should repair be
necessary and what each option would cost.
At a joint meeting of the City Council and the School Committee held in
September, Inspectional Services Director Michael Donovan estimated the cost to
fix the building would be upward of $10 million and said repairs could take up
to 18 months.
Both Kostan and White said no timeline is available for when relocation could
occur, however, at an informational meeting held at the school in October,
Donovan estimated it would take more than a year of preparations before
large-scale repairs could commence.
The damages to the 6-year-old building include crumbling walls, two-inch gaps
where one part of the building has pulled away from another, buckled ceiling
tiles, cracked and lifted floor tiles, shattered trophy case glass, misaligned
doors, and jagged floor-to-ceiling cracks in the walls.
Thursday's School Committee meeting will be held in the Tiger's Den of the
Lynn Tech Annex, 90 Commercial St. at 7 p.m. Kostan said he expects
the committee will vote on the plan at its first meeting in January.
__________________________________________________________
School
Brass: Classical Report Bogus
By Jill Gadsby, The Daily Item of Lynn, Thursday,
November 17, 2005
LYNN - The School
Department has not decided to send students to English High should Classical
High need to be closed for repairs.
Despite published reports to the contrary, Superintendent of Schools Nicholas
Kostan said no decision has been made to send Classical students to English.
"There are a lot of options on the table but nothing has been decided,
that's for sure," he said. "The School Committee had not approved any
plan, I have not made any recommendations to the School Committee. Not to say it
couldn't happen - there are a lot of options on the table but nothing has been
decided on by anybody."
The report, which appeared in a Lynn weekly newspaper, quotes an anonymous
teacher saying English High Vice Principal Tom Strangie announced during a staff
development day that the schools would be combined.
Kostan said those accusations are not true.
"I did call Tom Strangie and asked him if he made that statement and he
told me he did not," he said.
School Committee members, who must approve any contingency plan for Classical,
also refuted the report.
"I don't know where they got that information but it's inaccurate and
misleading at this time," Jeff Newhall said. "Any and all options are
still very much in the discussion stage and to say that is all hearsay and
rumors."
John Ford also was adamant that the schools would not be combined.
"To the best of my knowledge, that's definitely not happening," he
said. "I'd be very surprised if that's the solution. I'm absolutely against
going to English and a lot of parents said their kids aren't going to be in the
Lynn School System if that's the case. They won't get a vote out of me on
that."
Donna Coppola said she is also against that option.
"I'm not in favor of split sessions at English and that's the same message
I'm getting out in the community amongst Classical parents," she said.
"I'm not interested in it because of the number of kids that would be in
that building and how does each child get six-and-a-half hours of academic time?
I'm also concerned about the after-school programs. I saw a parent tonight who
has other suggestions - parents want to be part of the process."
English High Principal Andrew Fila verified that the school not been notified of
such a decision.
"Things have been discussed, but it's one of four or five ideas," he
said. "It's irresponsible somebody mentioning that."
In fact, Fila said he would do all he can to prevent that scenario from
becoming a reality.
"First of all, I'm against i