Page 2 THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – FRiDAy, SEpTEmbER 13, 2024 Mayor encourages City Council to vote favorably on funding order to convert former EHS to 7th and 8th A t a regular meeting of the Everett City Council on Monday, Sept. 9, the City Council failed to approve funding that would have converted part of the former Everett High School into a seventh and eighth grade academy to reduce overcrowding after a 7-4 vote in favor of the proposal. The order requires eight votes for passage. The City Council then voted favorably to reconsider the order once the Administration can provide a definitive answer on whether the Eliot Family RENOVATIONS | FROM PAGE 1 cation of Eliot and the boxing club. We don’t know the endgame for these uses. My concern is we’re going to vote on an incomplete plan.” “No other community in Massachusetts has a Middle School building with a public gym and no safeguards,” Smith said, despite assurances from School Supt. William Hart to the conResource Center and Broadway Boxing Club can remain in the building. If approved, the measure “The Former Everett High will allocate $72 million to convert part of the facility into an academy for Everett’s seventh and eighth grade students in an effort to reduce overcrowding. In addition to continuing to house the Webster School Extension, the plan includes keeping the Health and Wellness Center at a reduced size. Mayor Carlo DeMaria encourages the City Council to approve the funding order at the next City Council meeting. trary. “Kids need to feel safe without worrying who is in the area. A school should be a school.” “People are not comfortable sending their kids to a school with mixed uses,” Garcia agreed. Earlier in the meeting Hart said he would create “a secure environment so there’s no instance of people entering the school without proper proNeed a hall for your special event? The Schiavo Club, located at 71 Tileston Street, Everett is available for your Birthdays, Anniversaries, Sweet 16 parties and more? For more info, call (857) 249-7882 Cedar impression half rounds School has been a lynchpin of the community through the valuable services organizations like the Eliot Family Resource Center, the Health and Wellness Center, and Broadway Boxing Club provide,” said Mayor Carlo DeMaria. “My Administration is committed to working to ensure that Everett’s residents continue to benefi t from the good work these organizations do every day while partnering with leadership from Everett Public Schools to provide an exceptional classroom experience for Everett students and educators. I look forcedures. I’m securing space so people on the other side of the door can’t get in,” but added that relocation of tenants “is not our work, but it’s clear they’ll have to move. We took footage we believe we’ll need, and where they move is not under my jurisdiction. Where they go is not a decision made by me.” $10 million approved by the City Council to fi x the roof will allow the tenants to stay there if it is not converted to an educational purpose. “We have to be concerned about where these operations fl y off ,” Hanlon feels. “What will happen to these operations? Their kids are our students. They have to be where our families can get them. They have to be in the middle of Everett,” a reference to possibly relocating some functions at the unused Pope John High School, 888 Broadway, but with most of it facing Lafayette Street, or other places. Grade Academy Failure to pass funding risks no action being taken on overcrowding in Everett’s schools Special to Th e Advocate The Former Everett High Carlo DeMaria Mayor ward to working with the City Council to move forward on this proposal.” “The plan will require use of space occupied by Eliot for security and to provide contiguous space,” Mayor Carlo DeMaria’s Chief of Staff , Erin Deveney off ered. “We believe Eliot provides vital services, but there’s no guarantee we’ll be able to fi nd another location in the old High School. If it can be done in a reasonable way, we believe it would be prudent to keep those functions in another building.” (DeMaria was at the meeting, but did not speak.) While acknowledging “we have a major crisis. We have kids in closets and hallways,” about overcrowding, in discussion Van Campen focused on the pitfalls of mixed use of the old High School. “The residents of Ward 5 have been clear to me,” he said. “They are concerned with repurposing the building for educational purposes and keeping the other uses, which can be disruptive. They want to see uses School, which is located at 548 Broadway, has served the Everett community for over a century. Initially opened in 1922 to better serve Everett’s burgeoning student population, it served as Everett’s primary high school until 2007, when the city’s new high school opened at 100 Elm St. The Administration has continued to use the building to meet educational and community needs in Everett after prior eff orts to surplus the property failed to attract proposals acceptable to residents. go to more appropriate locations. There are concerns people are using the boxing club with ankle bracelets,” a reference to monitoring devices based on criminal activity. DeMaria asked him if he was referring to things like distributing backpacks to students as disruptive. After Van Campen answered yes, DeMaria said some of those activities could be done elsewhere. Hart tried to head off discussion of Pope John by pointing out that the old High School provided more space than Pope John. “The administration doesn’t have a proposal for Pope John,” Deveney added. “The information we’ve posited is to use the old High School for educational purposes.” “Pope John is not before us,” Van Campen confi rmed. “The plan before us is not perfect, but it’s the only one before us.” RENOVATIONS | SEE PAGE 3 Monogram D4 Double siding Harvey Vinyl 66 Replacement Windows Custom Aluminum Trim work Windows & Doors Top quality Vinyl Siding! •Vinyl Siding •Carpentry Work •Decks •Roofing •Free Estimates •Replacement Windows •Fully Licensed •Fully Insured
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