Overcrowding forces Everett students to learn in hallways, under staircases: "It is utterly unacceptable"

The city of Everett is taking on overcrowding issues in its school district with a plan to overhaul the entire structure of its school system with a new middle school. 

Students in some buildings are learning in makeshift classrooms in hallways, under stairwells and in spaces like the library and performance studios. 

"Imagine you're a sixth or seventh grader walking through hallways while transitioning to your next class, but you have to step over other children, or navigate around other children, who actually are using those hallways as their learning spaces," said Everett Mayor Robert Van Campen. 

Overcrowding in Everett schools isn't new. Van Campen said the issue has become worse as the city has become more desirable to live in with upcoming developments. 

Adrian Lambert, a student who graduated in 2013, told WBZ-TV the district has been having issues since he was in school. His friends could barely use the cafeteria. 

"I would find a seat, and then after that, if my friend needed somewhere to sit, I'd get up," he said. 

Lambert believes a solution may be sitting across the street. "There's another high school right over there, an old high school," he said. 

The city is proposing to turn the old high school on Broadway into a building for students in grades seven and eight. This would free the other buildings to educate students from kindergarten to sixth grade. 

"We know there is data out there that a K-6 model achieves better academic outcomes than a K-8 model," Van Campen said. 

Van Campen added that the building would become a state-of-the-art middle school, and that the cost to do so is in the $280 million to $300 million range. 

"It is utterly unacceptable to continue to educate children on a Band-Aid approach when it comes to facilities," Van Campen said. 

Some parents learned about the ongoing issue in a meeting on Thursday morning. 

"Only thing I remember from [the meeting] is the library they said they don't have because of all of the students that they have," said Rebeca Pena, the mother of a student at Albert Parlin Junior High School. 

City officials hope that breaking up the K-8 buildings can solve the issue.