Click image for Haverhill City Council agenda.
Haverhill city councilors tonight are expected to approve two school-related capital borrowing requests—one to plan for the future of the John Greenleaf Whittier School and the other to pay for design and planning of a new Silver Hill School roof.
The city plans to borrow $1.2 million for a state-required feasibility study of the long-sought replacement of John Greenleaf Whittier School. The Concord Street middle school won state approval more than a year ago to enter into an eligibility period that could lead to partial state reimbursement. The study goes beyond simply deciding whether to repair, replace or add to the school, as School Superintendent Margaret Marotta explained to School Committee members last month.
“The study essentially looks at grade allocation, the number so students the building should hold, what the specific components of the building might look like programmatically, where specifically the building might be located, that sort of thing.”
Construction of a new John Greenleaf Whittier School would complete the rebuilding of the city’s four middle schools. Extensive renovation of the Dr. Paul C. Nettle School, which opened in 1959, were complete in 2000, followed by completion of the new Caleb Dustin Hunking School in 2017 and the ongoing construction of the Dr. Albert B. Consentino School.
Plans also call for the city to spend $300,000 to conduct a schematic design for a replacement Silver Hill School roof—a condition of receiving possible construction reimbursement from the Massachusetts School Building Authority’s Accelerated Repair Program. Such designs, according to the state, typically detail the scope, budget and schedule of the project. The state in December invited Silver Hill School, at 675 Washington St., into the state program and up to 76% of the replacement could be covered by the state. School Committee member Richard J. Rosa spelled out the benefits during a School Committee meeting.
He said, “With the Silver Hill roof beyond its expected lifespan, our partnership with the MSBA allows us to make necessary upgrades while leveraging state funding to ease the burden on Haverhill taxpayers. We have to continually commit to maximizing opportunities like these—whether the Accelerated Repair Program or grants—to benefit our students and community.”
The Haverhill City Council meets Tuesday night at 7, remotely and in-person at the Theodore A. Pelosi Jr. Council Chambers, room 202, Haverhill City Hall, 4 Summer St. As a public service, 97.9 WHAV plans to carry the meeting live.