Danvers Delays Vote On Capping Share Of Essex Tech Enrollment

DANVERS, MA — A town meeting article designed to cap the number of Danvers students who attend Essex Tech each year was pulled from the warrant leaving unclear any resolution to the disagreement between the town and vocational school on escalating enrollment costs in recent years.

Article 5 of the town meeting warrant had asked town meeting members to approve a home-rule petition to the state legislature that would cap the number of Danvers students accepted into the school at 40 per year in an attempt to curb costs associated with annual increases in the number of Danvers students attending Essex Tech —which the town said has an unsustainable effect on the town budget.

But an amendment to suspend the article was overwhelmingly approved after officials said they hoped to engage Essex Tech representatives further to resolve the difference without the state getting involved.

"I am really not sure about the renewed conversations as they have not reached out to me to date," Essex Tech Superintendent Heidi Riccio told Patch. "However, we are always eager to collaborate on how we can work together with our local high schools. We look at them as partners in building the workforce on the North Shore."

Since the amendment only allowed for the indefinite postponement of the article it is not clear when it might come up for a vote again if work to resolve the issue is deemed unsuccessful. It appears that the next vote would either require a special town meeting or be brought back up again in the warrant for the next annual town meeting in Spring 2023.

The town had cited an increase in contributions to the school at 18.06 percent per year in recent years when the annual town budget increased only 3.49 percent per year, which officials said is unsustainable.

Town Manager Steve Bartha told the Select Board in April that the town representing 20 percent of the Essex Tech student body when its population makes up only 9 percent of the population of the communities from which the regional school draws is being overly burdensome.

Riccio said that Beverly and Peabody had also experienced increased enrollment in the school in recent years and said capping the Danvers students admitted would "create inequities for students in our sending communities."

"Each Massachusetts student, by law, must have access to a vocational program," she said in a letter to Patch prior to the town meeting. "Applications to Essex Tech are highly competitive. More than half of those who apply each year are not accepted.

"In capping enrollment, town meeting is being asked to deny Danvers parents the right to determine the best course for their child. Further, the passage will strike at the core mission of Essex Tech: To provide as many students as possible with the high-quality education, skills, and training to be successful in life.

"We teach differently because students learn differently. We help students build skills academically and in their chosen field, and find connections between the classroom and workplace."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)