Whittier Tech, Northern Essex pursue shared campus as MSBA eligibility review begins

At a school committee meeting, officials said Whittier Regional Vocational Technical School and Northern Essex Community College are pursuing a shared-campus model and will enter the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) eligibility review.

The presenter told the committee the project has been under discussion for nearly a year and that the MSBA has placed the proposal on an upcoming eligibility agenda. "We are looking forward to that," the presenter said, adding that the authority will likely attach conditions that the district will need to address as the process advances. The presenter described several models under consideration: two separate schools sharing a campus, two schools with shared spaces and services, or a fully integrated school model.

Why it matters: committee members were warned that the project could reshape vocational education and local fiscal responsibilities. The presenter said the Whittier Tech facility is nearing the end of its useful life and that a shared campus could expand access to career-technical programs, early-college opportunities and workforce credentials while offering potential cost efficiencies.

Public comment raised governance concerns. "Section 7B reads, 'any proposal for Amendment ... may be initiated by a majority vote of all the members of this school committee,'" said Bernie Cullen Rowley during the meeting's public comment period, citing the 1967 regional agreement and urging the committee to consider proposing amendments before advancing the building project. Rowley said the Rowley select board had reviewed the proposed memorandum of agreement and provided a refusal to the MSBA, and he urged the committee to seek agreement among member towns.

Committee members asked detailed questions about funding and legal obligations. The presenter said multiple funding sources are being explored — state MSBA support, possible federal interest, postsecondary funding and private foundations — but that towns would likely be responsible for any local share under the current regional agreement unless the agreement is formally amended. "Every funding formula is on the table," the presenter said, describing the process as multi-year and stressing the need for broad stakeholder involvement.

The committee discussed next steps and process constraints: being invited into MSBA eligibility requires completing specific benchmarks and checks; the previous building effort took roughly two years before feasibility work began. The presenter and members also noted a pending grant for a "clean lab" at Northern Essex that would support joint programming and said the project team plans to convene stakeholder working groups and develop a five-year capital plan for the existing Whittier facility while evaluating future uses for the current campus.

Votes at a glance: during the same meeting the committee approved routine business and several motions by roll call, including acceptance of donations totaling $8,500 (motion approved), approval of two student field trips (plumbing program trips on Feb. 14 and Feb. 28, 2025; Pico Mountain trip on March 1, 2025), and appointment of the recommended law firm for school committee legal counsel.

What’s next: presenters said the MSBA eligibility meeting is the immediate milestone and emphasized that any formal building plan will require additional study, stakeholder engagement and, potentially, amendments to the 1967 regional agreement before towns would take on new fiscal commitments.