THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, JUNE 12, 2026 Page 5 ~ REVERE CIT Y COUNCIL ROUNDUP ~ Advocate Staff Report Good news from Wonderland B rian Dakin, the senior project manager for the Revere High School building project, met with the City Council at their meeting this week to update councillors on the project. And the news was good. According to Dakin, bidding on the project is complete and the new high school is $14.8 million under budget. The money was transferred to a contingency account, and unspent funds will come back to the city. Daken estimated the Massachusetts School Building Authority could save $7 million and the city could see $8 million in savings. “The project is very healthy financially,” Dakin told the council. “We anticipate delivering the project under budget. The question is how much.” As for the actual building, Dakin said it is 15 percent complete with foundations and infrastructure. “By the third week in July, steel will start arriving from Canada,” he said. Dakin did say he expects the furniture and equipment budget to be inadequate because it is several years old. Councillors questioned what was removed from the plan to save $14.8 million. “Nothing has been removed,” said Dakin. “The savings are a result of market conditions.” No Comment U sually, the Public Comment segments of the City Council meetings are brief. Residents do not often take advantage of the opportunity to share their opinions with the council. But this week, the Council Chamber was busy with a group of people holding signs that read, “Fully fund our schools.” Possibly anticipating a long line of speakers who were at the meeting to voice concerns over school budget cuts, Council President Anthony Zambuto had City Clerk Ashley Melnick read the rules for Public Comment, which specify who is allowed to speak and the topics he or she can discuss. First up at the podium was Jane Chapin, co-president of the Revere Teachers Association and a fi fth-grade teacher at the Paul Revere Elementary School. Zambuto asked for a name and address. But when Chapin said she lived in Boston, Zambuto told her she was not allowed to speak. The Public Comment segment is only open to Revere residents and Revere business owners. Chapin said she has addressed the City Council many times in the past, but Zambuto did not allow her to continue. Next in line was Winthrop Avenue resident Philip Hancock, a teacher at Rumney Marsh Academy. Hancock passed the residency requirement, but when asked what he wanted to speak about, he said the city budget. Zambuto then told him public comments are limited to issues on the council’s agenda and the budget wasn’t listed. Hancock, like Chapin, was not allowed to talk. That was enough for the sign-holding school advocates, who walked out of the meeting. “We follow the rules here,” said Zambuto, who banged his gavel and ended the Public Comment segment. Appointments and a tribute to Catherine Penn T he council approved the reappointment of Daniel Occena to the License Commission. The appointment of Juan Jaramillo to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund Board was tabled until Jaramillo could meet with the appointments subcommittee. The council approved a motion from Ward 5 Councillor Angela Guarino-Sawaya and Ward 2 Councillor Ira Novoselsky to install a portrait of Catherine Penn in honor of her being the fi rst woman elected to RCCR | SEE Page 6 GRADUATION | FROM Page 1 Revere. Merisa Kllomollari, of Revere, was PCSS I’s valedictorian. She will be attending Yale University in the fall, where she will study Neuroscience with PreMed Track. This year 108 seniors from both PCSS campuses were accepted to 140 distinct colleges, including Yale, Northeastern, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Boston University, and received more than $20 million in total scholarships. This year’s Gerry D’Ambrosio Attorney-at-Law Is Your Estate in Order? Do you have an update Will, Health Care Proxy or Power of Attorney? If Not, Please Call for a Free Consultation. 14 Proctor Avenue, Revere (781) 284-5657 Checking that pays you $20 a month. It’s easy: Open a checking account and each month maintain an average balance of $5,000, make $1,500 in direct deposits, and complete three transactions of any kind.* *New checking account customers only. Revere’s Merisa Kllomollari, Valedictorian of Pioneer Charter School of Science I’s Class of 2026, and PCSS CEO/Executive Director Barish Icin. graduating class included three Thrive Scholars, one QuestBridge Scholar, a Posse Scholar and a Gates Scholar.
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