Haverhill city councilors were told for the first time Tuesday the legislature could set the terms guiding the relationship that governs the 11 communities sending students to Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School.
The revelation came as the school’s superintendent, Maureen Lynch, and Northern Essex Community College President Lane A. Glenn briefed councilors on a study backing a shared Haverhill campus for the two institutions. As only WHAV reported last week, a 98-page UMass Donahue Institute initial feasibility study found a “shared campus model would be an innovative move and would be one of the first of its kind within the United States.” Councilor Devan M. Ferreira poked the elephant in the room when she asked what happens if all communities don’t agree on how to move forward. Mayor Melinda E. Barrett candidly answered.
That it’ll probably be a legislative change rather than us trying to hash it out amongst ourselves, and we won’t agree to the change unless we are going to move forward with this probably combined campus.”
The concept of a shared campus at the college’s Haverhill site surfaced a year ago after voters in 10 of the 11 sending school communities rejected $445 million standalone replacement. Only Haverhill voted in favor of building a new school on the current campus on 115 Amesbury Line Road.
Barrett spelled out her goals for Whittier Tech’s future.
“Hopefully, we spend a little less money, we have a better facility, don’t have to pay for a lot of infrastructure that doesn’t exist where the current Whittier Vo-tech is. So, there’s a multiple advantages to this combined campus.”
The two school officials agreed, saying the shared campus model is to reduce costs to sending communities while at the same time enhancing educational opportunities at the school.
“It’s really exciting to have discussions about what this could look like. It’s the first of its kind in our state and maybe nationally.”
Lynch and Glenn said currently 10 of the 11 communities in the Whittier district have signed on to pursuing the next step which is a formal feasibility study, as required by the Massachusetts School Building Authority. The project cannot go forward unless all 11 communities agree to share the cost of a feasibility study.
“Ten of the 11 of these communities are feeling better about collaborating around what we just talked about, and the 11th is coming to visit us tomorrow,” Glenn said.
Glenn said one fear municipal officials from outside Haverhill have expressed is the innovative model might prove so popular it will draw more students away from local high schools. One benefit is area high school students would be able to receive the college experience while in high school. Currently 160 Whittier students attend classes at Northern Essex as part of a “early college” initiative. Generally speaking, per pupil cost to educate students at vo-tech schools across the state is thousands of dollars more than conventional high school.
Lynch acknowledged high construction costs across many kinds of projects.
“As you can see there is a rising demand for career and vocational technical education. There’s huge financial challenges. I don’t need to tell you about building projects right now in MSBA.”
Whittier has an enrollment of 1,285 students with 856 from Haverhill. The nine other communities in the district are Amesbury, Georgetown, Groveland, Ipswich, Merrimac, Newbury, Newburyport, Salisbury and West Newbury.
Lynch said she anticipated the shared campus plan is at least five years away and that in the meantime she must keep the current school operating. The Whittier Tech School Committee is expected to approve a $32.4 million budget for the next school year Wednesday which includes $695,000 in funding for capital improvements including outdated electrical panels, new classroom heating and cooling units, a new gymnasium heater and repairs to exterior brickwork. The budget would also pay for a consultant to study how best to replace the school’s aging and deteriorated waste water treatment plant.
“You could be the engine for the future for Haverhill. Making Haverhill a world class, workforce-ready hub is exactly what industry wants,” said Councilor John A. Michitson.
Councilors also postponed a public hearing on the 24-bed addition to Haverhill Pavilion until May 6 at the request of the attorney representing the developer because two councilors, Colin F. LePage and Michael S. McGonagle, were absent.
Frances (Hogan) Lamb was confirmed to a position on the city’s Commission on Disability Issues and was promptly sworn in by City Clerk Kaitlin M. Wright. Lamb had served on the commission as chair for several years until moving out of state. Now, back living in Haverhill, she said she is eager to rejoin the Commission.