Springfield School Committee chooses new Gerena site

A slide showing the location of the future Gerena School in relation to its existing site.
Photo credit: DiNisco Design/SKANSKA

SPRINGFIELD — German Gerena Community School will stay in the North End.

The Springfield School Committee voted unanimously to locate the new Gerena at 495 Chestnut St., a mile from the existing site at 200 Birnie Ave.

But School Committee member Rosa Valentin said the outreach ahead of the vote left much room for improvement.

Superintendent Sonia Dinnall said the new Gerena School will be a “state-of-the-art” learning center, and the existing site will not accommodate that goal. The location of the 1974 building has never been ideal. Donna DiNisco, owner of the architecture firm on the project, DiNisco Design, said the existing Gerena is “sandwiched” between Interstate 91 and the railroad tracks. A tunnel runs under the highway to connect the school to residential streets in the North End.

Locating the new school on the corner of Chestnut and Prospect streets was the most cost-effective option and will allow Gerena to remain operational throughout construction with no disruption. As currently envisioned, the three-floor building will be L-shaped and situated on the edge of the site, so that two sides of the building run along Chestnut and Prospect streets.

The location was once the site of the now-razed Chestnut Middle School. School Committee member LaTonia Monroe Naylor said the people at the Holy Redeemer Cathedral on Prospect Street will be pleased to have a school there again, instead of a vacant lot.

Mayor and School Committee Chair Domenic Sarno said he had pledged to keep the school in the North End, but it was difficult to find a location. “If we don’t go with this site, the school’s out of the North End,” he warned the School Committee.

Valentin reported to her colleagues that she attended an outreach meeting at Gerena, but only one member of the community was there. Further, she said there were no translation services for either Spanish speakers or the local Somali community. School Committee member Gumersindo Gomez, who was also at the meeting, said the one neighbor in attendance was concerned about traffic. A student at the meeting wanted to know if the community will still have access to the school for student performances.

“It’s not just us sitting here making the decision,” Valentin said, adding that she was uncomfortable voting without hearing from the neighbors.

Sarno said he did not want to delay the vote and risk losing the project’s place in the Massachusetts School Committee’s pipeline. The MSBA is a semi-governmental entity that reimburses municipalities for a portion of costs associated with building or repairing school buildings. Springfield is reimbursed for 80% of eligible costs.

DiNisco said it is important to take the community into consideration. She said flyers were sent out in English and Spanish before the meeting. Gomez said the people in the North End are not receiving information on the school from the New North Neighborhood Council. “No one is talking about it,” he said.

School Committee member Denise Hurst, whose child attends Gerena, acknowledged Valentin and Gomez’s concerns. She recognized that Valentin had been trying to raise the communication issue at a previous meeting. However, she said she does not want the project to stall, and said people will be more upset if the school leaves the North End than if it is sited on Chestnut Street.

School Committee member Ayanna Crawford said the committee must be intentional about communication moving forward and the committee brainstormed ways to communicate with North End residents, including advertising in El Pueblo Latino and on the Spanish language radio station, and reaching out through contacts in the Somali community. Gomez suggested not hosting it at Gerena, because many of the student body at the magnet school do not live nearby.

Monroe Naylor assured people that conversations about community outreach had been going on behind the scenes since January. She acknowledged that the plan did not work and said, “We can do better.”

Hurst broached the subject of changing boundaries for school assignments, as well as children who are currently bused that may need to walk to the new school. Assistant Superintendent Jose Escribano said there will be community outreach well before the school is built.
About 86 students who live near 495 Chestnut St. And attend Boland Elementary School will be moved into the new Gerena catchment area. Similarly, 144 students in the area who attend Lincoln Elementary School will be moved to Gerena.

On the other hand, 97 students who attend Gerena now will be moved to Lincoln under the new catchment boundaries. Forty-seven students at White Street School will be moving to Lincoln. These adjustments will allow the various schools to maintain their enrollment levels.

Escribano said the students who currently walk to Lincoln or Boland elementary schools will be able to walk to the new school. Those who were bused to White Street School will be bused to Gerena. Gerena’s existing student population is less than 600 students. With the boundary changes and the ability to invite an estimated 123 citywide students to attend the magnet school, the new building will accommodate 854 students.

The new Gerena is scheduled to open in 2030.