Consultants present master-plan study: small elementary schools, varied class sizes and substantial deferred-maintenance needs highlighted

Consultants from Education Resource Strategies (ERS) presented phase 1 of a master-planning effort, describing wide variation in school experiences across Braintree’s elementary schools, limitations created by small grade sizes and an overview of facilities needs and demographic projections.

ERS consultant Jess O’Connor told the committee the study examined how resource patterns — class sizes, teacher assignments and the scheduling of specials — affect student and teacher experiences. "When you have smaller grade sizes, you have fewer teachers and it limits your ability to move students more flexibly across that grade," O’Connor said, noting grade-size differences influence the district’s capacity to run skill-based small groups and to schedule routine common collaboration time for same-grade teachers.

The consultants highlighted that many special-area staff (art, music, media, PE) are assigned part time or shared across schools. That arrangement ensures every elementary school has specials but can complicate teacher collaboration because teachers’ prep or specials times do not always line up across a grade level.

District staff and committee members reviewed detailed class-size data. At the high school level, Braintree reported three AP Physics sections with enrollments of 23, 28 and 33 students; AP-level and advanced math sections included a precalculus honors section of 31 students. Several electives are also large: chamber orchestra was listed with about 59 students, wind ensemble about 42, and concert choir about 40. At the elementary and middle grades, maxima and averages varied by school and grade (examples discussed included a grade 8 honors English class with a maximum of 27 at one middle school and kindergarten sections that showed typical sizes near 19).

ERS and district staff also discussed facilities. Finance director Esmond and staff recalled a district estimate of roughly $50 million in deferred maintenance for elementary schools presented in a prior facilities review; they said a districtwide estimate that includes the high school and other campus areas could be approximately $100 million. The consultants noted many buildings were constructed decades ago; their footprints and spaces do not always match modern instructional needs such as flexible collaborative spaces and smaller rooms for intervention work.

A demographic forecast prepared for the district was also discussed. The district’s demographic consultant projected a modest decline in total district enrollment — roughly a mid-single-digit percentage over the next decade — even when accounting for currently planned and permitted housing development in town. Presenters explained that new housing, particularly higher-density units, typically produces fewer school-age children per unit than a turn-over in single-family housing.

Committee members asked several substantive questions, including whether alternative grade configurations (for example, different grade spans) would be evaluated and how consolidation scenarios would affect both instructional practice and the town’s finances. The consultants said those topics are part of the next phase of the master plan: (1) detailed facilities condition assessment and cost estimating, (2) scenario development that includes educational program outcomes and capital implications, and (3) community engagement and decision criteria. ERS and the district said community engagement will be integrated into every phase and the team plans public-facing materials and events to collect input.

The committee requested further information on: how various consolidation or reconfiguration scenarios would change class sizes and collaboration time; the basis for the deferred-maintenance figures; and the demographic assumptions used in the forecast. Consultants and staff said they will return with supplemental analysis and with a public engagement plan as the master-plan work advances.