School Committee to Celebrate Long-Awaited End to HHS Renovation Project

(WHAV News file photograph.)

Fourteen years after it began, the Haverhill High School renovation project will be declared complete when Mayor James J. Fiorentini recognizes the school’s Building Committee at Thursday night’s School Committee meeting.

The School Committee meets at 7 p.m. in the Theodore A. Pelosi Jr. City Council Chambers, Room 202 in City Hall.

The Massachusetts School Building Administration made the final reimbursement payment to the city this summer, closing a long, painful chapter for the city, Fiorentini said.

In 2003, the SBA approved a 68 percent reimbursement for physical renovations to Haverhill High that were designed to rescue the school’s accreditation.

In other business, the School Committee plans to interview Special Education director candidate Pamela MacDonald in public session during Thursday night’s meeting.

MacDonald, if chosen, will replace Kyle A. Riley at the helm of the city’s Special Education Department.

Involved in special education as a teacher and administrator since 1997, MacDonald joined the Haverhill schools in 2016 as compliance officer.

Business Manager Brian O’Connell and Superintendent James F. Scully have credited MacDonald with bringing the district’s special education spending under control.