The day after voters in every area community but Haverhill shot down a $445 million plan to replace Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School, the school’s superintendent says officials will “determine the best path forward to serve our students.”
Haverhill, which sends and pays annually for nearly 70% of Whittier Tech’s student population, voted 2,628 to 1,906 in favor of replacing the 50-year-old school. However, in a contest determined by majority vote of all 11 communities, the proposal was nixed 16,123 to 5,714.
Superintendent Maureen A. Lynch, writing on behalf of the Whittier Tech School Building Committee, thanked everyone who voted in Tuesday’s referendum, but conceded “It is clear that residents in 10 of our 11 sending communities are not in favor of the current proposal to construct a new Whittier Tech.”
In a separate statement, Haverhill Mayor Melinda E. Barrett said she hopes to hear from Whittier about “what their plans are for next steps.”
“Elections are about establishing what we value. This is not just in expenditures, but also in relationships and the direction our constituents would like to go. I am proud that Haverhill voted overwhelmingly for Whittier and have been disheartened by the ‘us versus them’ dialogue that reverberated around the district. With voter fatigue setting in, we all must work harder to ensure our constituents vote on critical issues like Whittier,” Barrett said.
She added she “will work to keep the residents of Haverhill informed about the issues facing our city and disseminate information transparently so that they can go to the polls and vote with confidence in the information they have.”
After grants and reimbursement by the Massachusetts School Building Authority, officials said $267.5 million would be paid by communities. Officials previously said they would be forced to embark on a more expensive renovation—estimated to cost communities $350 million—if the vote failed.
Four years ago, Lynch told members of the Haverhill Education Coalition that Whittier Tech was forced to take steps after Haverhill building officials declared no more renovations may take place. Inspectors said the school needs a modern sprinkler system, among other updates to meet modern building codes.
“Whittier Tech’s vision, as a public school serving our cities and towns in a multitude of ways, is to position our students and adult learners for the best chance of success, whatever their chosen profession, and to become a strong foundation for our local skilled workforce,” Lynch said in her statement. “We will take time to reevaluate how we can best meet the needs of Whittier Tech’s students, and come together as a community to determine the best path forward to serve our students.”
Whittier tried unsuccessfully four other times to be invited into the Massachusetts School Building Authority reimbursement process before winning in 2019 on its fifth try. State School Building Authority Executive Director Mary Pichetti warned in December there is no guarantee Whittier would be welcome again if voters object.
“If approval eventually does not come on the project, then we would likely be working with the superintendent and the district to remove their Statement of Interest, and none of us here want that to happen,” she said.
Besides Haverhill, the sending communities are Amesbury, Georgetown, Groveland, Ipswich, Merrimac, Newbury, Newburyport, Rowley, Salisbury and West Newbury.