Education

North Andover School Committee to Discuss Placing School Superintendent on Paid Leave

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The North Andover School Committee is scheduled Thursday to discuss placing the school superintendent on paid leave, but an official would not confirm the circumstances giving rise to the item. A new business agenda item referenced two items, “Placing the superintendent on paid administrative leave pursuant to Section D of his employment contract” and “Process for selecting and naming an acting superintendent during the paid leave period.”

North Andover Chair School Committee David Brown told WHAV that he “cannot comment on personnel matters” regarding Superintendent Gregg T. Gilligan. The School Committee meets in public session tomorrow night, 7 p.m., in the Superintendent’s Conference Room, School Administration Building, 566 Main St., North Andover. According to a meeting notice, the School Committee amended its outline at 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, to include the additional items related to the superintendent. Gilligan first became superintendent July 1, 2018.

Haverhill

Downtown Haverhill Apartment Complex Seeks to Shed 72 Spots of Required Off-Site Parking Spaces

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The owner of a sprawling apartment redevelopment in downtown Haverhill is seeking permission to reduce its required number of tenant parking spaces by 73 spaces. The Forest City Residential Group project, now known as Halstead Haverhill, originally provided 394 parking spaces, including 72 offsite on city property and in the Granite Street public parking garage. Attorney Connor A. MacIsaac, however, says a parking demand study shows the offsite parking spaces are not necessary. In a letter last Thursday to city councilors, city Economic Development and Planning Director William Pillsbury Jr. said he “strongly recommends” councilors deny the request. “In my opinion, compliance with the above minimum off-street parking requirements is necessary to guarantee the availability of sufficient parking for residents, guests and others,” he said.

Education

House Ways and Means Committee Budget Boosts Haverhill’s Allocation of State Education Aid

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While it won’t plug a looming revenue shortfall, Haverhill could receive $5.3 million more in state education aid over last year if the House Ways and Means Committee gets its way. The House last week proposed a formula that would give Haverhill $88 million in so-called Chapter 70 aid compared with $82.6 million in the current year. The amount is also $131,664 more than Gov. Maura T. Healey proposed in her draft budget. “Changing our state education formula when I joined the House in 2017 was my top priority,” said Rep. Andy X. Vargas in response to questions from WHAV. “Passing the Student Opportunity Act was a herculean effort by many.

Haverhill

Haverhill Boys & Girls Club Signs Purchase Agreement for 6.5-Acre Site Near I-495 and Broadway

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(Additional photographs below.) The Boys & Girls Club of Greater Haverhill is moving ahead with plans to buy and develop a 6.5-acre parcel at the corner of Monument Street and Broadway near Interstate 495. Executive Director Javier Bristol told WHAV Friday the Club signed a purchase and sale agreement, following the withdrawal of a competing housing applicant for the state-owned parcel. Both applicants bid $855,000 for the land. WHAV exclusively reported the proposal Feb. 23.

Haverhill

Whittier Tech School Committee Elects Wood Chairman; Process Marks Whirlwind Turnaround

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Former Haverhill School Committee member Scott W. Wood Jr. last night was unanimously elected chairman of the Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School Committee. The election by his Whittier Tech peers brings full circle a series of moves that began in February to oust Wood from the regional board, invite candidates last month to complete Wood’s unexpired term, then—without full explanation from the Haverhill School Committee or city solicitor—shelve a policy that kicked off the confusion and ultimately to change its interview process for the other Haverhill Whittier seat held for 24 years by Richard P. Early Jr.

Wood, whose appointment by the Haverhill School Committee expires March 31, 2026, succeeds Garry James of Ipswich as chairman. James’ board seat is now held by Carol Sullivan who was seated April 1. Back on Feb. 29, the Haverhill School Committee’s Policy subcommittee voted to recommend a new policy that cut Wood’s term short.

Haverhill

Child on Scooter Receives Non-Life-Threatening Injuries After Being Struck by Jeep

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An eight-year-old riding a scooter received apparently non-life-threatening injuries early Monday night when he was struck by an automobile in the Mount Washington neighborhood. Haverhill Deputy Police Chief Stephen J. Doherty told WHAV the unidentified child was “was taken to a Boston area hospital for treatment.” The eight-year-old was struck by a 2004 Jeep Liberty around 6:40 p.m., near 31 Arch Ave. Doherty added no charges were filed against the driver of the Jeep, who was also unidentified. The accident remains under investigation.

Education

As Reported Last Fall, Haverhill Considers Merging Tilton and JG Whittier Schools in State Application

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Haverhill is making formal its plans, first reported by WHAV in December, to consider merging the John Greenleaf Whittier and John C. Tilton Schools. The Haverhill School Committee last night voted at a special meeting to authorize Superintendent Margaret Marotta to submit a statement of interest to the Massachusetts School Building Authority. The expected formality is the first required step toward having the 456-student Tilton elementary school considered. As WHAV reported, the John Greenleaf Whittier was already invited into a state eligibility period that involves a feasibility study and later steps to determine formally whether the school should be renovated or replaced and the amount of state reimbursement. Haverhill School Committee member Richard J. Rosa told WHAV last fall he met with members of the School Building Authority during an Oct.

Haverhill

Feds Award Haverhill $452K Grant to Begin Healing 60-Year-Old ‘Scars of Urban Renewal’

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(Additional photograph below.)

The area east of Main Street in Haverhill’s downtown was reduced almost 60 years ago from a huge retail shopping district to a difficult-to-navigate and “one of the lowest-income areas in the city” “cut off from the city’s many benefits.”

Now, Haverhill hopes to reverse, what it called, an “historic injustice” with a $452,000 federal planning grant aimed at, in city officials’ words, “Removing the Scars of Urban Renewal.”

“This grant will support improvements in Haverhill that will better connect all residents to an emerging downtown area, quality job opportunities, education, health care and other services throughout the city,” said Mayor Melinda E. Barrett in a statement. The grant comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s “Reconnecting Communities & Neighborhoods” program. On Jan. 5, 1966, a Summer Street tenement was destroyed by a bulldozer in eight minutes as Haverhill kicked off its federally funded “Pentucket Urban Renewal Program.” By May of that year, 58 buildings would be razed, including Sears, Roebuck and Co. facing Water Street.