WAKEFIELD — Funding a proposed state-of-the-art $317 million-plus vocational school on Hemlock Road will be the subject of a district-wide special election on Tuesday, January 25.
Last night, the Northeast Metro Tech District School Committee approved the date. The fate of a new vocational school will be determined on January 25 in each of the 12 communities that send students to Northeast. Earlier this fall, each city and town’s legislative branch had first crack at approving the project, which would receive significant money from the state. Wakefield and North Reading town meetings were among those who backed funding the new school. Town Meeting participants in Saugus and city councilors in Chelsea did not.
When any member community rejects the plan, a district-wide election is required. The overall majority will decide the fate of the project.
In Wakefield, the January special election will precede one eyed for the end of February to fill a vacant seat on the Town Council, which will then be followed by the annual municipal election in April.
At Wakefield’s regular Town Meeting on November 6, Town Meeting voters gave their approval for the Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational School Committee to borrow $317,422,620 for the purpose of designing and constructing a new Northeast Metro Tech on Hemlock Road.
Northeast Metro Tech has been accepted into the Massachusetts School Building Authority’s funding program for the construction of a new school. A grant of up to $140.8 million from the state has been pledged towards the total cost of the project, the largest in MSBA history. The regional vocational technical high school serves a 12-community district including: Chelsea, Malden, Melrose, North Reading, Reading, Revere, Saugus, Stoneham, Wakefield, Winchester, Winthrop, and Woburn.
Each of the 12 member communities was asked to to authorize the full borrowing but will be financially responsible for only their share. No appropriation of funds was associated with warrant Article 4.
Brittany Carisella, Wakefield’s representative on the Northeast Metro Tech School Committee, introduced Superintendent David DiBarri to discuss the project.
“Our building has come to the end of its life,” DiBarri said. “We need a new building. Systems are failing and don’t come close to meeting current standards.”
He noted that the building is poorly insulated and energy inefficient. Most classrooms are undersized by current Department of Education standards and the building is not handicapped accessible, DiBarri added.
The fact that there is just one road leading in and out of the school is a real safety concern, he said.
Building a new school will allow Northeast to increase its student enrollment from the current 1,200 to 1,600. DiBarri said that the school has the longest wait list of any public school in Massachusetts.
He said that every option was looked at and new construction was chosen based on the minimum disruption to education.
DiBarri asked Northeast Metro Tech’s financial consultant Charles Lyons to address the funding issues. Lyons said the 49 percent of the costs of building the new school would be borne by Malden, Revere and Chelsea. Each member community will pay the same per pupil cost, he noted, and Wakefield’s enrollment could increase from 100 to 124.
Lyons said that the MSBA grant for the new school will be the largest in the history of the state agency. There is also a potential that $30 million an ARPA federal COVID relief funds could be applied to the project, lessening the financial burden on member communities.
Elm Street’s Daniel Lieber noted that the construction would be disruptive. He asked what services would be available to the Wakefield community at the new vocational school.
DiBarri noted that the school offers a bank, a restaurant, cosmetology and autobody departments, all of which are open to the public. He said that the new building will make those services more easily accessible to the public.
The new school will also have an auditorium that Wakefield can use, DiBarri said.
Bob Brooks of June Circle noted that the budget includes both reimbursable costs and costs that are non-reimbursable by MSBA.
Frank Conte said that he supported the project, adding that he was pleased with the education his daughter received there. He maintained that there was a real need to get more people into the trades, like carpentry and plumbing.
Dan Sherman of the Finance Committee said that the town can afford its share of the cost of the new school. He said that the second access road that is part of the plan will help to relieve pressure on Farm and Nahant streets.
Marie Rej, chair of the Commission on Disabilities, also supported the project and encouraged more consideration of people with different kinds of disabilities.
Marie Oliveira of Nahant Street wanted to know how long the construction would take and what traffic mitigation measures would be in place.
Lyons said that the project would take about four years and most construction vehicles will use the new access road, not Hemlock Road. He said that the school would work with neighbors impacted by the project.
Benny Wheat of Meriam Street said she was in favor of the project. She asked what Wakefield’s share of the cost would be.
DiBarri said that Wakefield would be responsible for about 7.81 percent of the cost, based on enrollment. Town Administrator Stephen P. Maio added that Wakefield’s cost would come to about $800,000 a year, including interest. He said that it could be handled within the tax levy.
Bob McLaughlin of Water Street, an electrician, said he favored the project because more people are needed in the trades. He observed that most of those attending the required Massachusetts Electrical Code update classes are over 50.
Light Commissioner Thomas Boettcher read a letter from his board encouraging incorporation of maximum energy efficiency measures in the project.
Light Commissioner Jennifer Kallay said that she hoped the school would reconsider its plans to use natural gas to heat the new facility.
Town Meeting approved the new Northeast Metro Tech plan by a vote of 100-6.