Winslow School PTA President Criticizes “Cellar Classrooms”, Lack of Facilities-October 5, 1967

“Cellar classrooms” and a “complete lack of physical education facilities” at Norwood’s Winslow Elementary School drew sharp criticism from the school’s PTA president during a school board meeting last night.

Edmund G. Linehan, speaking before the School Committee as an concerned parent rather than in his official PTA capacity, declared that Winslow school children are being neglected by the town and their parents relegated to “second-class citizenship.”

“Cellar Classrooms” and Playground Deficiencies

Linehan focused his criticism on inadequate infrastructure, pointing out that a room once utilized as a children’s playroom has been converted into a regular classroom due to overcrowding.

“To give children an introduction to education in the cellar is not educationally sound,” Linehan contended. He warned that Winslow students are graduating into junior high school “at a decided disadvantage because of the lack of ancillary features that other schools have.”

Furthermore, Linehan highlighted the complete absence of proper outdoor physical education facilities at the school, suggesting that an area surrounding the building should be blacktopped to accommodate basketball games and outdoor recreation. “If we need a gym in every school we build, we need one at the Winslow,” he argued.

School Committee Chairman Francis X. Sheehan and fellow board members expressed agreement with Linehan’s concerns, indicating that long-term relief would arrive when the new Willett Elementary School opens the following year. Sheehan noted that the only immediate form of classroom relief would be purchasing additional portable classrooms—a possibility the committee had not yet formally evaluated, despite the aging Winslow School already accommodating two portable classrooms. Sheehan assured Linehan that the committee would take his remarks “under serious consideration with the view of adding facilities up there in next year’s budget.” The board agreed to examine potential remedies during budget discussions scheduled for October 18.

Textbook Fund Shortage and Maintenance Delays

During the business session, the School Committee revealed it was facing an approximate $8,000 shortfall in funds allocated for instructional supplies and textbooks. Chairman Sheehan announced plans to request a Monday night meeting with the Finance Commission (FinCom) to arrange a budget transfer, noting that an equivalent surplus existed in the instructional salary account.

The meeting with the FinCom will also address securing earlier bids on municipal school maintenance work. Delays in late-summer bidding that year resulted in unfinished interior painting at the junior high school, forcing school officials to cancel afternoon classes for the first three days of the academic term.

Teacher Salary Negotiations Open

In other business, Chairman Sheehan reported that the School Committee submitted a counterproposal on teacher salaries during a closed collective bargaining session held last night with the Norwood Teachers Association (NTA). The two groups scheduled their next negotiating session for October 25.

Following the two-hour bargaining meeting, Horace F. Fader, chairman of the NTA bargaining committee, explained that the teachers’ proposal was aligned with a nationwide drive by the National Education Association (NEA) to raise baseline teacher minimum salaries to $7,500 over a five-year period. While Fader noted it was premature to disclose specific salary demands for Norwood, local figures showed Norwood’s minimum teacher salary at $5,600, which state law mandated would rise to $5,750 the following year.

Other members serving on the NTA bargaining committee included Charles O’Malley, John Posey, Miss Margaret Walker, and Miss Margaret Ryan, who served as committee secretary.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger