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Haverhill City Councilor John A. Michitson asked his fellow councilors to join him in lobbying for more seats at the proposed new Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School, arguing providing more students with training for higher paying jobs helps Haverhill with its affordable housing crisis.
Michitson’s comments, which came during the City Council’s regular meeting Tuesday, are timely because the newly-formed Whittier Tech Building Committee is surveying member communities on its enrollment projections as part of its plan to build a new school on the campus of Northern Essex Community College. As previously reported by WHAV, Whittier Tech is submitting an application to the Massachusetts School Building Authority for approval as the next step in a year long planning process.
Michitson argued that simply providing more lower-priced homes won’t solve Haverhill’s housing crisis because too many residents are housing cost burdened. That, he argued, suggests that Haverhill has an upward mobility crisis, not just an affordable housing crisis.
“I think the city has come up with some very good potential fixes for affordable housing in the city. But what I was really stunned by was the fact that 52% of all renters and 28% of homeowners in Haverhill are housing cost burdened which means they don’t have a lot of money for anything else. So, in my opinion I believe Haverhill has an upward mobility crisis and that is a key driver of the affordable housing crisis,” Michitson said.
One way to address the upward mobility issue, is to make sure all of Haverhill’s young people have adequate access to vocational training and career counseling, Michitson said. At the same time Haverhill is dealing with a lack of affordable housing and some 200 kids cannot get into Whittier Tech for lack of seats every year.
“The upward mobility problem is getting worse. If you take a look at students with low-income families at the high school, it is 56% which is a big number. In the kindergartens, its 69%,” Michitson said.
Whittier Tech currently enrolls 1,285 students, with 856 from Haverhill. Michitson pointed out the school building authority said the last time Whittier sought state help it would only approve a building with 200 additional seats.
Noting the wait list of 200 is only Haverhill students Council Vice President Timothy J. Jordan suggested there could be students from the other 10 communities in the Whittier district that have also been denied admission for lack of seats. He supported Michitson’s observation and the need for action by the city.
“People are aging out that are in those professions and there are not enough people getting it. And to hear part of the problem is kids want that and they can’t get in,” Jordan said.
Michitson suggested pursuing so called career “cross-training” opportunities for Haverhill students would be a good first step and made a motion the Council’s Planning and Economic Development Committee, which he chairs, continue the discussion.
The motion passed unanimously.