Waltham makes push for April 1 vote to expand school

β€˜It was really hard to learn,’ Waltham student says

Waltham School superintendent Kristi Eager leads a tour of Utica residents inside the school on Thursday, March 27, 2025 in Utica.

Lorelai Magerkurth is a 9-year-old student at Waltham Elementary School. Although the school still is new and well-lighted, Lorelai spotted a problem: the noise.

As Waltham has grown crowded, the din has ratcheted up. That’s what happens when you cram more than two dozen children into a classroom.

β€œIt was really crowded,” Lorelai said, β€œand it was really hard to learn.”

District officials are hoping Lorelai’s testimony wins votes Tuesday, when Utica-area voters report to the polls. Easing the space crunch will take an expansion of almost $10 million, and voters must agree to fund a 38-cent tax increase to fund it.

Hoping to rally voters, Waltham held an open house Thursday along with a late push to get voters to cast a β€œyes” ballot come Tuesday. About 20 spectators joined the tour, where Superintendent Kristi Eager said the problem wasn’t planning but rather, surprise developments, including COVID-19.

Eager said the centrally located school was designed with flexible classrooms, some fitted with partitions, to accommodate fluctuating class sizes.

β€œWe planned for what we had and what we knew,” Eager said.

But the flexible floor plan wasn’t as helpful when the district had to adapt to a few societal trends that emerged. And these aren’t problems unique to Waltham – they’re nationwide issues:

  • More special education students – The demand for special education is soaring, and Waltham’s special ed students swelled from seven to 45.
  • More full-time staff: Waltham once had a part-time social worker and part-time speech pathologist. No more. Both professionals are needed full time.
  • Pre-kindergarten: Two years ago, Waltham didn’t have a pre-kindergarten program. Legal and societal changes effectively force the district to have morning and afternoon pre-K sessions to accommodate dozens of little ones – and busing them off-site isn’t an option.

β€œIt’s hard,” teacher Eric Bara said of the resulting logistics, β€œbut we know of the importance of having a preschool.”

The upshot is that classrooms have grown more crowded. Waltham’s goal was to hold the student-teacher ratio to 24-to-1 before splitting a grade level into smaller class sizes. The space crunch has pushed class sizes to almost 30.

β€œWhen you’re cramming 29 kids in,” Eager said, β€œare you meeting their needs?”

Eager said her faculty has been dedicated – β€œOur teachers are rock stars” – but a long-term solution is needed to meet the new and still-evolving changes.

The proposed solution is an addition of 22,000 square feet that would include a new preschool wing, a junior high wing, a multipurpose room and more parking.

After months of discussion, Waltham voted in December to adopt a resolution seeking $9.96 million for a building addition to ease the Utica school’s space constraints.

The dollar figure might not be an easy sell come Tuesday. According to a Shaw Local projection to give a tax bill example, Utica Mayor David Stewart, who last year paid Waltham $1,636 (total tax bill: $4,246) faces an 11% jump to $1,814.

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