NEWBURYPORT — The mayor has scheduled an information session on the proposed Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School building project next month but his invited guest of honor, Superintendent Maureen Lynch, says she won’t attend.
The Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School Committee recently voted to hold a Jan. 23 special election in its 11 member municipalities to approve building a new school building in Haverhill. The projected cost among the district municipalities would be $444.6 million, with roughly $180 million expected to come from Massachusetts School Building Authority grants, federal incentives and state rebates, leaving a projected district share of roughly $267 million.
“We’re going to invite all of the other 10 communities to come, just because I know a lot of them haven’t had a chance to hold a public forum,” Mayor Sean Reardon said. “The middle school auditorium is pretty big, so it should be able to accommodate a large crowd.”
If the vote for the new school project fails, Lynch said the Whittier campus would need a code upgrade, including full Americans with Disabilities Act compliance, the installation of a sprinkler system, a new wastewater treatment plant and mechanical and electrical replacements, among other things.
Newburyport currently sends 29 students to Whittier and Reardon has said the project as is would cost the city $30 million, ($60 million over the life of a loan) and would almost certainly require the passage of a Proposition 2 1/2 override to pay for it.
Municipal leaders in nearby Amesbury and Salisbury, along with other communities have also voiced their concerns over the project. With that in mind, Reardon organized a regional information session on Jan. 9, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Rupert A. Nock Middle School.
Reardon sent an email earlier in the week asking Lynch to attend. Lynch responded with an email of her own, declining his invitation Thursday morning.
Instead, Whittier officials will be providing more information on Jan. 13, from 9 to 11 a.m. during a public tour of the facility.
Over a periods of months, Lynch and other Whittier Tech officials visited many of the feeder communities sharing their plans with taxpayers as well as leaders. One of those meetings in Georgetown resulted in harsh words and enough consternation for Lynch to temporarily put a halt to the forums.
Lynch last spoke in Newburyport on Dec. 11, when she went before the Newburyport City Council and did her best to explain why the school building project needs to happen.
But the council didn’t receive the presentation all that well, with at-large Councilor Connie Preston telling Lynch she believes the deteriorating situation at the Whittier school comes from “gross mismanagement.”
Reardon said he was hoping she could to do the same for the general public on Jan. 9 and has been working with the City Council to compile a list of questions they didn’t feel were answered during her last appearance.
“We’re going to send them those questions ahead of time so, hopefully, they can answer them at the forum,” he said.
Lynch said in her email to Reardon that Whittier launched a project-specific website since being invited into the MSBA program in June, 2021 and school representatives have taken part in 17 district member outreach meetings since September, as well as four public forums.
The superintendent also stated that 25 social media posts, as well as 16 press releases have been issued on the project from September 2022 through November 2023, and added she gave Reardon personal tours of the facility on March 4, 2022 and Feb. 13, 2023.
Whittier has also invited municipal leaders from all 11 member communities near the end of March and early April each year to review the school’s annual budget and discuss upcoming projects, including the building project, according to Lynch.
“While I thank you for the invitation, as you can see from the above, Whittier Tech has provided substantial outreach on the project,” Lynch concluded.
Reardon acknowledged he had toured the Haverhill campus but said the new building wasn’t a topic for discussion.
“I’ve seen every department over there but the first time we heard about the new building and plan was December of 2022 and there were very loose numbers involved,’ he said. “We all walked out of that meeting saying it was an ambitious project and there was no way it would be approved.”
Reardon added he didn’t receive his first email from Lynch about the project until this past August.
“We didn’t get the full numbers until Oct. 5, this year,” he said.
Reardon also said he expects to hold the Jan. 9 public forum, whether Lynch attends or not.
“I really think Whittier should be there to get their side of the story out there and I hope they change their minds,” he said. “We’ve booked it and hopefully they can come to tell us about the project and answer any questions, 14 days before the election.”
Staff writer Jim Sullivan covers Newburyport for The Daily News. He can be reached via email at jsullivan@newburyportnews.com or by phone at 978-961-3145. Follow him on Twitter @ndnsully.
