New school year begins for “family-friendly city”
This morning I happened to hear the tail end of an interview with Supt. Chris Scott on WCAP Radio as she welcomed teachers, students and parents to a new school year. Since today was the first day of school for Lowell children in grades 1-9, the timing was perfect. Dr. Scott briefly mentioned the enrollment concerns for kindergarten, first, third and seventh grades where some classes have an average of 25 students rather than the preferred size of 22. (The school committee will be discussing this topic at a special meeting tomorrow at 7 p.m., second floor conference room at 155 Merrimack Street—more on that issue in a later post.) What stuck out for me about this morning’s conversation was Dr. Scott’s assessment of Lowell as a “family-friendly city,” not only because we have been able to maintain our lunch costs at $1.75, but also because we do not charge fees for students to participate in sports, nor do we charge to bus students in grades K-8. Many neighboring communities have not been able to do the same, with parents in some districts paying $500 per student for sports and $300 for busing. Over the last few years in Lowell, the district has been able to save $700,000 in transportation costs while also increasing the number of student riders—even reducing eligibility requirements to pre-2003 distances of 1½ miles for middle-school students and ¾ mile for elementary students. Also, Dick has a post regarding LHS recently being named as one of the top 50 high schools in the state. In Lowell, we still have a way to go to excellence, but I’m thinking there’s a lot to like about Lowell schools. Welcome back!