Lynn Public Schools presented a proposed redistricting plan on March 27 that would assign students to a new Pickering Middle School opening in early 2027 and rebalance enrollment across the city’s three middle schools.

District staff said the new Pickering will be roughly 185,000 square feet across five stories and will include a cafetorium, gymnasium, health services space, media center, maker space, drama and movement areas, grade-level clusters and outdoor learning overlooks. The project’s planned completion date is early 2027.

Under the proposal, feeder patterns will change for a number of elementary schools to better align students with the closest middle school and to reduce enrollment pressure. The district presented a proposed reallocation that would produce projected enrollments of about 1,208 at Breed, 1,149 at Pickering and 1,083 at Marshall — a more even distribution than current numbers (Breed 1,359; Pickering 627; Marshall 1,454) shown in the presentation.

The district said its methodology prioritized distance and convenience, access to updated facilities and preserving elementary-school feeder relationships. Planners said 82% of assigned students in the middle-school cohort would be assigned to their geographically closest school under the proposal, and 81% would remain in the same boundary as previously assigned.

Officials emphasized that existing middle-school assignments will not change midyear; if the new Pickering opens during a school year, students already attending the current Pickering would move into the new building for the remainder of that year and most reassignments would take effect in the September following completion. Questions about classroom staffing were raised: district staff said the new building will include more classrooms and that staff postings and hires will follow normal end-of-year processes, allowing current staff the opportunity to apply for positions at Pickering.

The district will open a public comment period April 1–30, will post the presentation and a survey on the Lynn Public Schools and MSBA websites, and will hold a public forum at Pickering Middle School on April 30 at 5:30 p.m. The district plans to return to the school committee with any adjustments and to request final approval on June 12, 2025.

District staff said the changes are designed to reduce overcrowding at some schools and give more students access to the new facility; the presentation also included clarifications about specific elementary-to-middle feeder adjustments for neighborhoods and addressed questions on timing and staffing.