Melrose Voters Overwhelmingly Approved New Voke In Wakefield

MELROSE, MA — Even in a paltry turnout, voters in Melrose overwhelmingly approved the construction of a new vocational school in neighboring Wakefield.

Of the 1,111 Melrose voters who showed up to vote in Tuesday's special election, 979 said yes — the most of any of the 12 communities who voted.

Melrose voters broke in line with most of the cities and towns that send students to Northeast Metro Tech, with more than 82 percent of the total 9,054 voters who showed up voting in favor of constructing the $317 million project.

Chelsea (38 percent) was the only community to vote no, while Saugus (62 percent) was the only other community to show anything less than enormous support. The city council and town meeting of those respective communities disapproved of the project, citing high costs. The cost for each town is the same on a per-student basis, but more students means higher costs, and Chelsea and Saugus send the second- and third-most students, respectively.

As of October numbers provided by the district, Melrose only sends 44 students to the school and would be responsible for only 3.43 percent of the total costs after accounting for a $141 million Massachusetts School Building Authority grant. That has the city's residents on the hook for just over $6 million to paid over the next 30 years, pre-interest.