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A UMass Donahue Institute initial feasibility study concludes a Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School and Northern Essex Community College “shared campus model would be an innovative move and would be one of the first of its kind within the United States.”
The 98-page study, which also flags how communities share the Whittier Tech’s costs, comes about a year after Gov. Maura T. Healey endorsed the concept and 14 months after voters in 10 out of 11 communities rejected a $445 million replacement standalone Whittier Tech campus.
“The innovative opportunity for NECC and Whittier Tech to develop a blended campus model would be an opportunity to develop a modern, innovative learning environment that will benefit students, communities, and regional workforce needs for generations to come,” notes the study by UMass Donahue Institute’s Economic & Public Policy Research Group.
Last year, the Healey administration called for a partnership to “explore ways to create a new, modern facility for Whittier Tech, allow for expanded access to postsecondary education across northeastern Massachusetts, and increase enrollment capacity at both institutions and make them more affordable. It will also open up new avenues for potential additional funding sources beyond cities and towns in the Merrimack Valley.” Officials have said Northern Essex Community College’s Haverhill campus, off Route 110 in Haverhill, offers enough space for another building.
The study emphasized financial concerns raised by the public. “Though the overall price is an issue noted by those interviewed, many specifically expressed apprehension towards how the project’s cost will be distributed among communities and taxpayers. Community members recommend addressing financial concerns by quantifying individual costs, breaking down the reality of paying for a new Whittier Tech building by both emphasizing the value of the shared campus for all community members, and by searching far and wide, especially through the state, for funding sources.”
While the study notes a complete college and technical school merger “can also be beneficial to the community, students and regional labor market,” authors say they “should consider a shared campus model in which both schools maintain their own unique identities but share some resources together.”
In a press release Friday, the college reports recent meetings of a Municipal Working Group, which included input of mayors, town managers, and city councilors and select board members, “have expressed strong interest and optimism for a proposal and new cost-sharing arrangement for a new career training high school in partnership with Northern Essex Community College at its Haverhill campus.”
The 1967 agreement between the 11 communities has been controversial since at least 1978 when Haverhill asked to increase its 15% representation since it then-paid 50% of the school’s operating costs. Similarly, last year, the towns balked at paying a higher percentage of capital costs than its percentage of attending students.
The release added, “All working group members in attendance agreed that a new building project at NECC cannot happen without a new regional agreement and capital funding formula due to the inclusion of NECC and the state as partners.” Remaining to be hammered out is how the different approaches used by the state and local schools to pay for buildings would be reconciled. Last December, as WHAV reported first, the Massachusetts School Building Authority invited Whittier Tech into an eligibility period for a second time. College construction projects, however, are typically overseen the state Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance.
Whittier Tech Superintendent Maureen Lynch and Northern Essex President Lane A. Glenn are leading the meetings with help from special facilitator Dennis DiZoglio, a former Methuen mayor and Merrimack Valley Planning Commission director.