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LYNN, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Officials in Lynn are asking the state for help to give its school buildings a long overdue update.
Lynn Mayor Jared Nicholson and school officials urged members of the Joint Committee on Education on Monday to support bills that would overhaul the funding model for the Massachusetts School Building Authority with the goal of getting major upgrades to school buildings.
The bills, called Acts Modernizing School Construction, are set to change the way schools are funded. The reforms would alter the state's school construction formula giving low-income students equitable access to modern buildings and double the money dedicated to school construction projects.
Lynn School Superintendent Evonne Alvarez said 41% of Lynn's school buildings are over a hundred years old. Another 26% of the buildings are between 71 and 100 years old.
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"Those outdated infrastructures of our school buildings hinder the ability to provide 21st-century education," Alvarez said. "It sends a clear message to our students and community that equity is often mentioned but not taken seriously by a system that should be funding equitable access to education."
She told the committee that the schools are in dire need of an upgrade as the decades-old buildings are negatively impacting students' education.
"A total of 67% of our school buildings are in need of infrastructure updates," said Alvarez.
Lynn officials asked state lawmakers to support the bills to make it easier for Gateway Cities like Lynn to get new school building upgrades.
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