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Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School member cities and towns will not be required to enroll in any plans for a renewed or replacement school for at least one year.
In 2023, following a process set forth by the Massachusetts School Building Authority, the School Building Committee will review what approach is possible. Whittier Tech Superintendent Maureen Lynch, a recent guest on WHAV’s morning program, said there are three options: Renovate, renovate and expand the current building to allow for more students, or a new school altogether.
“Over the next year or so, we’ll really look at what our best options are. Then next year, next spring, we go to our communities, spring of 2024, wow! We will go to our communities and ask them to approve a construction project,” she said.
Whittier Tech currently supports 1,400 students, but one plan is to add another 120. But Lynch said the school’s building committee plans to keep enrollment at current levels.
“We keep in mind what our communities can afford, but the bottom line right now is that construction is very expensive. So, hopefully next year those prices will come down, but we have to kind of plan for the worst,” she explained.
Lynch explains what drives her passion.
“My responsibility here is to make sure Whittier Tech is preserved for the next generation, and I feel like we have to do something unequivocally. Last week we had a water main break at the entrance to the building. Luckily we noticed it at 2:30 p.m., but we had to cancel because we needed to fix our evening program.” “Those are the things that are starting to happen. Our systems are beyond their means and we have to start working out how we’re going to fix it and what it’s going to look like, and that’s our job for the next year or so,” she said.
Those interested in learning more about the project can view plans or watch building committee meetings online at whittiertech.org.
The 50-year-old school serves the towns of Haverhill, Amesbury and Newburyport and the towns of Groveland, Merrimack, Salisbury, West Newbury, Newbury, Rowley, Georgetown and Ipswich.
In addition to WHAV.net, WHAV’s “Merrimac Valley Newsmakers” podcasts are available on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, Google Podcasts, TuneIn and Alexa.
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