See Timeline For New Peabody High School After $8 Million Feasibility Study Approved

PEABODY, MA — The Peabody City Council approved an $8 million feasibility study to move forward on the planning of eventual construction of a new Peabody Veterans Memorial High School in what Mayor Ted Bettencourt called "a big moment" in the progression toward a new school.

Bettencourt told the City Council the bond for the feasibility study was a necessary step for the city to continue along the Massachusetts School Building Authority process that will provide matching funds to substantially renovate or completely replace what Bettencourt said is a "subpar" school for students.

• 'Things Are Going To Start Happening': $8M Peabody High School Feasibility Request

"All of you are very familiar with the state of our high school and the need for a new school or major renovation," Bettencourt told the City Council Finance Subcommittee Thursday night. "It is outdated. It is not meeting the needs of our students. There are major deficiencies in that building and certainly it is not energy-efficient. There is a great deal of work that needs to be done to update equipment, technology, and just the overall look and feel of a new Peabody high school that I think would be so important for our students, staff and everybody.

"That building is always a flagship of any city or town and that building is just not what we need it to be."

Bettencourt said that without approval of the feasibility funding by April 24, the city would have been asked to withdraw from the process so another city, town or school district could be selected for the matching funds. Both the Finance Subcommittee and full Council approved the funding by unanimous vote.

"This is the next step," Bettencourt said. "We will then start to look into the location of the new building, the fieldhouse, the future of the auditorium and the vocational and technical programs that I think will be a key factor moving forward in terms of bringing back some programs, adding to some of the great programs that we already have at Peabody Veterans Memorial High School.

"The building is subpar. But thankfully, we have outstanding talent, educators making sure things are operating there and students and students are getting a terrific education. If we can provide that over the next four, five, six years, that is going elevate everything that is happening in that building."

Bettencourt said that, while this is still early in the process, he expects construction on a new or substantially renovated new high school could begin in that four- to five-year timeline.

"In a lot of instances, we've been ahead of schedule to make sure we are not waiting until the last minute," Bettencourt said. "We've been getting out in front of the schedule in meeting these timelines. I anticipate that we will continue to try to make this happen on as quickly a timeline as we can."

(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.)