WAKEFIELD — The current Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational High School is an extremely tired facility that needs to be replaced, according to an extensive project report available to residents as officials prepare for a Tuesday, January 25 special election in all 12 member communities.
In Wakefield, the election will be held from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Galvin Middle School.
The $317 million proposal to build a new state-of-the-art vocational school on Hemlock Road in Wakefield was rejected by Town Meeting in Saugus and by the City Council in Chelsea, moves that created the need for the vote on January 25. The state’s School Building Authority has pledged a grant of up to $114 million of the project’s total. Wakefield’s share of the cost of a new school would be about $800,000 a year.
Northeast Metro Tech is a grades 9-12 comprehensive vocational and technical high school of approximately 240,000 gross square feet which provides academic and vocational programs for approximately 1,250 students from twelve surrounding communities: Chelsea, Malden, Melrose, North Reading, Reading, Revere, Saugus, Stoneham, Wakefield, Winchester, Winthrop and Woburn.
A new vocational school would serve kids for the next 50 years.
The current facility was built in 1968, with a small storage outbuilding constructed in 1975. Apart from minor alterations and construction of other small storage outbuildings, it has not seen any significant renovations, additions, or improvements since that time.
A study by Dore & Whittier Architects was commissioned to generate a physical and programmatic assessment of the Northeast’s school facilities and to develop a conceptual master plan for critical maintenance, renovations and additions, or building replacement for the next 10 years.
“Northeast Metro Tech enjoys a solid reputation as a viable choice for high school students interested in a comprehensive technical education which can lead to a potentially remunerative and satisfying career. The school has a current grades 9-12 enrollment of 1267 students. There are currently 325-330 places — or “seats” — at the school per grade level, and an average of 650 Freshman class applications are received annually, creating an annual waiting list or backlog of roughly 320 students, or almost double the number of places in the class. A surplus of applicants has existed consistently for the last twelve (12) years. There is a chronic shortage of classroom space for academic subjects and educational support services that has existed for at least eight years.
“Northeast Metro Tech administration has been reaching out to its Community Advisory Committees and reflecting on the strength, interest, and relevance of its sixteen existing vocational programs, putting out feelers in the business community about trends and employment outlook in the region, and preparing to retool some of its programs in response to changing conditions in the regional job market and advances in technology. Over the last 18 months, the administrative team has taken a hard look at the current CTE program offerings, and—again with input from its advisory groups—has made the decision to implement fundamental changes in program offerings going forward. Such action of continuing successful programs, adding relevant new programs, and discontinuing programs in which interest and/or relevance is waning, only strengthens the school’s position in the school choice “market” going forward.
“It is readily apparent to the lay person who spends some time at the facility that it is an aging building with physical deficiencies that can be mainly attributed to its time in service. Handicapped accessibility to all parts of the school is a significant issue, as well as lack of — or incomplete—accessible facilities within educational spaces, toilet rooms, and administrative spaces. There are also comments from staff of educational program deficiencies and challenges caused by the particular spatial arrangement and relationship of programs within the building, as well as the absence of some key educational or support spaces.
“These factors have caused the administrative team to realize that the time is now to take advantage of a major renovation or new building project to simultaneously increase its capacity to reduce the backlog of student applications, address the physical plant deficiencies, and to tune its facilities to accommodate contemporary programming. Therefore, the administration is moving forward under this study with the goal of expanding its grades 9-12 enrollment to 1600 students, and contemplating comprehensive renovation/addition projects, or complete replacement of the facility with a new school building.
“It is very clear that the time has come to make significant changes to the nature and quality of the built environment of this institution, and the Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational High School Committee and the Superintendent’s office have recognized this need and put a plan of action in place to address its deficiencies,” states the Dore & Whittier study.
Additional information on the project can be viewed at northeastbuildingproject.com. Any questions or comments related to the renovation project can be sent to NortheastMetro@PMAConsultants.com.
