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Those participating in a “listening session” Tuesday on the possibility of a shared campus for Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School and Northern Essex Community College raised traffic, organizational and student age difference concerns, on one hand, and the positives of making Haverhill an education “destination,” on the other.
Comments were received during the third of four online focus group meetings. The public was invited to discuss whether they would support a shared campus between both schools. WHAV honored the moderator’s request not to list private individual’s names, but is listing public figures.
One attendee said she would love for the city to “be a destination for education.”
“For me, that includes the trades because they are an essential part of our society. Right now, we segment people, you’re either an academic person or a trades person. Can’t you be both, can’t you learn both? I would love for my son to be enrolled at one school or both schools and be able to take classes at the other, cross register,” she said.
The attendee’s main concern is overdevelopment of the region.
“I don’t think that region can sustain the traffic that will come with people coming and going in droves and putting a strain on the neighborhoods,” she said. She went on to say, “In spirit I would love for them to be a shared campus and even shuttles between buildings but I don’t really support huge construction on the Northern Essex campus.”
However, one attendee from West Newbury who also serves on a Whittier Tech advisory board sought to allay concerns, citing success with a shared campus model for middle and high school students in the Pentucket Regional School District, which serves Groveland, Merrimac and West Newbury.
The district has a shared campus for middle and high school students which, he said, does a “very good job at keeping the grades separated.”
“The opportunity to have a joint campus I think, while I understand the challenges it may take with the adult education on campus, the benefits of having a technical student being able to get a degree if that is part of the process if it is implemented bodes very well for some of the programs we’re working on with MIT, Auburn University and other campus around the country that are looking at skills gap in manufacturing specifically,” he said.
Some attendees, including a Northern Essex Community College faculty member, cited logistical concerns of blending high school and college courses.
“If the partnership allows Northern Essex students to get training in a trade through Whittier, it would be wonderful and they would get their degree. The Whittier students would be able to get a degree and, theoretically, they are already getting a trade,” the attendee said. “The issue of mixing students in courses is obviously something that would need to be dealt with.”
Former Newburyport Mayor Donna Holaday pointed out the proposal is on the table only after a proposed $445 million replacement, declared eligible by the Massachusetts School Building Authority, was rejected by every area community except Haverhill.
“I think we have to understand why this proposal is on the table at this point because we have a 50-year-old building that is in real trouble,” Holaday said. “It needs to have major renovations, all utilities. They’ve been working hard over the years with state grant programs and making sure that they have the appropriate equipment that they need to advance all of their trades.”
She later summarized, “They have really serious utility problems. They have space problems, structural problems, leaky roofs, this is what’s driving this proposal.”
Other attendees cited concerns over the potential cost of the proposal, safety for students under 18, curriculum funding issues for a shared K-12 and higher education system.
As only WHAV reported Monday, a public sign-up page previously required participants to check a confidentiality box. After Haverhill School Committee member Richard J. Rosa, however, objected. UMass Amherst Donahue Institute, who facilitates the sessions, responded by removing the requirement and Rosa participated Tuesday. Rosa told WHAV he did not participate in either of the first two sessions due to the confidentiality condition. He told, WHAV he is “grateful.”
“It is essential that participants feel free to discuss what they observed and heard during the listening sessions and that the press has unrestricted access to the information gathered. I look forward to updating my colleagues on the Haverhill School Committee,” Rosa said in a statement.
“To ensure a civil and collaborative process, please ensure conduct is professional, collaborative, and devoid of any personal attacks. All participants will follow guidelines set by UMDI hosts for effective communications, with members being muted and/or removed from the meeting if disruptive, at the discretion of the host,” a new statement reads.
“Tuesday evening’s listening session made it clear that participants are eager for more clarity on the potential collaboration and shared campus between Whittier Tech and Northern Essex. Such a partnership holds tremendous promise to benefit our students and the community,” Rosa said in a statement after the meeting.
The final listening session takes place next Tuesday, Nov. 19. from 1-2:30 p.m., via Zoom. Participants may register here.