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(Haverhill, MA) — Elected leaders in 10 communities in the Whittier Tech regional school district have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreement that they will work together to move forward a new, first-of-its-kind proposal to build a new high school with and on the Haverhill Campus of Northern Essex Community College.

The MOU was developed by NECC President Lane Glenn and Whittier Tech Superintendent Maureen Lynch as a good-faith commitment to show the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) that the district’s cities and towns have agreed to work together and actively participate in a Shared Campus Working Group. The Working Group will work to attempt to reach consensus on a plan to approve, build, and pay for a new regional high school to replace the existing 50-year-old school on Amesbury Line Road.

“We anticipate shared space located on NECC’s Haverhill campus can overcome some of the challenges of Whittier Tech’s previous attempt to secure funding for a new facility on its existing site by reducing the cost to our member communities while expanding capacity for vocational education and access to postsecondary credentials needed for our regional workforce,” reads a cover letter to the MOU signed by Superintendent Lynch and President Glenn.

MSBA is set to consider at its Dec. 13th, 2024, meeting whether to let the proposed Whittier Tech/NECC Shared Campus Building Project into the state’s planning and funding pipeline. That process, which will be led by the state and take many months to complete, will determine what a potential new Whittier Tech at NECC will look like and cost.

The MOU does not obligate any city or town to fund the project, but instead recognizes that the Whittier Tech communities have already been meeting to address their concerns. For the next few months, the “WT and NECC Shared Campus Working Group” will focus on exploring how this new project can reduce the cost to municipalities, while expanding access to education for the region.

The Healey-Driscoll Administration has signaled its support for the Shared Campus project and last month MSBA staff along with a team of planners and architects visited the proposed site on the NECC campus.

At a February 2024 district-wide election, voters rejected a proposal to build a new Whittier Tech Regional High School at the existing site over the $445 million price tag and other concerns. Only voters from Haverhill, whose students comprise about 70 percent of Whittier’s student population, supported the plan. The new project also must be approved at a future district-wide election.

This past April, Whittier Tech filed a new Statement of Interest to the MSBA for a new Shared Campus School Building proposal with NECC to get approval and funding from MSBA for a new, comprehensive study, beginning in 2025, on how to build a school on NECC’s campus, the potential for shared space, cost reductions through the use of NECC land, and arrive at a new cost for the facility, with significant involvement from all 11 Whittier Tech communities.

Meanwhile, the University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute (UMDI) has been retained to study and research existing and future demographics in the region as well as best practices and the potential benefits of the proposed technical high school and community college partnership. The Donahue Institute, which is working with a Planning Group of local and state officials, workforce experts, and education leaders, is conducting listening sessions to gather input from residents and local officials on the proposal.

“We have been engaged in a preliminary study guided by the University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute to examine regional labor workforce needs, and explore models for vocational high school and higher education collaborations from across the country, with the involvement of nationally recognized experts from Jobs for the Future and the Harvard Project on Workforce Development, as well as stakeholder state agencies, legislative leaders and, most importantly, representatives of our member cities and towns.” the MOU cover letter reads.

Select boards or mayors in Amesbury, Georgetown, Groveland, Haverhill, Ipswich, Merrimac, Newbury, Newburyport, Salisbury, and West Newbury signed or voted to direct their chief executive officer to sign the MOU. Only Rowley declined to sign the agreement.

The fourth and final Listening Session was held on Nov. 19 at 1 p.m. but any future sessions, events, or updates will be shared on the webpage: Whittier Tech: Exploring a Shared Campus.

Goals of the WT/NECC Shared Campus Working Group:

• Continue to explore ways to create a new, modern facility for WT.
• Allow for expanded access to postsecondary education across northeastern Massachusetts.
• Increase enrollment capacity at both WT and NECC and make them more affordable.
• Ensure best overall value through a shared campus to ensure space utilization and efficiencies will be prioritized while pursuing new avenues of potential additional funding sources beyond the member communities.