Why don’t we build a new elementary school in Upper Falls? I used to be a vocal advocate for a 16th school in Upper Falls. Then as I learned more my thinking gradually changed.
An UF school would have a small population, as low as 250 students, and ongoing student population growth in this area is speculation, not fact. In the 70s and 80s Newton closed schools around the City as their enrollments hit the low to mid 200s because an economic assessment showed that schools of this size were very inefficient to run. Building and operating new small schools is still inefficient, and investments in new buildings channel dollars away from maintaining and repairing our older school buildings.