'A Monumental Step': Peabody High Gets State Funding Approval

PEABODY, MA — Peabody's decade-long quest to convince the state to help build a new high school or conduct a major overhaul of Peabody Veterans Memorial High School appears to have finally come to fruition with Mayor Ted Bettencourt on Wednesday morning saying that the Massachusetts School Building Authority's Board of Directors voted to invite the city into its funding program.

"Although much work lies ahead, today's vote represents a major milestone for our city," Bettencourt said. "In just a few years, Peabody will be home to a new (major renovation) high school which meets the needs of our students, faculty and staff and one for which our entire community can take pride."

Peabody Superintendent Josh Vadala told Patch on Wednesday that the decision is "a monumental step toward step toward providing the educational opportunities that our students and staff deserve."

"We are incredibly grateful to the MSBA for inviting PVMHS into the eligibility period for the core program," Vadala told Patch. "We are thankful for the support and leadership of Mayor Bettencourt, the School Committee, City Council and our legislators. I'm excited for the possibilities this will open up for our staff, students, families and the community.

"Our teachers are doing an incredible job within the current facility. A new building would allow them to serve our students and our community in innovative ways. This is a great day for the history of Peabody."

The next step is for the district to complete preliminary requirements pertaining to local approval and the formation of a local school building committee. Upon timely and successful completion of the Eligibility Period requirements, the district becomes eligible for an invitation into the Feasibility Study phase of the MSBA Capital Pipeline, subject to a vote of the Board of Directors.

"The Eligibility Period is a critical step in the MSBA's process of evaluating potential work on the Peabody Veterans Memorial High School," MSBA Executive Director Pichetti said. "We look forward to our continued partnership with the district as it enters the Eligibility Period.

After years of disappointment, hopes were raised that this would be Peabody's year to be accepted into the program — which provides state-matching funds to go toward new school buildings or major renovations — when the school was granted an MSBA site visit in August.

"I cannot emphasize enough that this is such a big deal for us," Vadala said at the time. "It's a huge honor to be considered and to have a senior site visit."

Vadala and School Committee member Beverley Ann Griffin Dunne pledged after last year's SBA denial to begin the proposal process earlier this round in hopes that PVMS would gain the consideration that they said is necessary given the current condition of the school.

The site visit process is similar to that of the Higgins and Welch schools before they were granted state-matching funding in years past. Last year, Salem High School went through the senior site process before officials there found out that the school had been approved for a new building that is expected to be built within the next five to seven years.

"This community deserves a new high school and this is a huge step forward along that path. I am so excited about this," Vadala said in August. "I am excited for our teachers, and our students, and our families, and our community as a whole.

"This has been a long time coming. It's been a lot of work from everyone on this committee and especially from (the mayor's office) to keep persistent about telling everyone that needs to know that Peabody needs a new high school and that the community supports it."

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