On the surface, an administrative "veto" seems like a drastic action.
But Mayor Carolyn Kirk's veto of a rushed City Council to join a proposed "new" North Shore regional vocational-technical school district — a veto that thankfully withstood a council override attempt Tuesday night — is essentially the opposite.
It doesn't mean the city cannot still become a member of the expanded and merged regional, complete with its $133 million megavoke school. It only prevents the city from hastily diving into a plan that remains awash in unanswered questions, especially for Gloucester.
And it essentially buys school officials, particularly, some time to decide whether membership in the expanded regional — which combines North Shore Tech and Essex Aggie — is in its best interests, especially considering the implications it may hold for the future of Gloucester High's own vo-tech program.
Yes, there is a measure of local support for the city to commit $2.7 million to the proposed new school, which is not due to open until 2013, and the expanded regional district, which really kicks off next fall. Supporters have argued that a regional schools offer better, more varied programs and career opportunities than Gloucester's current four offerings — and that's true, at least under the current formats.
But, with council commitment to Gloucester's regional membership on hold, local officials need to consider a number of things:
The majority of the city's vocational students stay local. Gloucester currently sends 67 students to North Shore Tech or the Aggie, while 140 are in the local program.
Kirk is correct when she argues that, "We have a once-in-a-generation choice," to create vocational programs in fields that could indeed focus on Gloucester-rooted fields such as state-of-the-art boat-building, aquaculture, underwater robotics and other marine-related research.
Expanding the GHS vo-tech program into that and other fields such as climatology could give students new local choices, and save on taxpayers' costs. Diving headlong into the regional may kill all of those options, given that it's hard to imagine Gloucester supporting both local and regional vo-tech programs.
The new regional district will require a $2.7 million payment up front, and then $3 million in construction costs — plus increasing costs for tuitioning students. The regional district is planning to charge $17,542 per year for students from member districts, and $18,722 for non-members. Even the member price is vastly more than the average per-pupil Gloucester cost of about $12,000.
Those are just a few of the considerations as a new School Committee-based task force begins looking into the city's local options. And while it's unfortunate that group is getting a late start on all of this, the importance of this decision truly makes this a classic case of tackling this issue "better late than never."
There is plenty of momentum behind the new school. Most of the larger communities in the region — notably Beverly, Peabody and Danvers — have all signed on. But they apparently don't have any interest in creating or expanding local vocational options.
Perhaps Gloucester will find that it doesn't, either. But, thanks to the mayor's veto, city and school officials can at least take a deep breath and more fully explore its local vo-tech potential before committing taxpayers to a costly proposals that, as of now, doesn't seem to bring any of the usual regionalization efficiencies.
The council vote seemed to focus on the need to jump aboard this speeding vo-tech train at any cost. But city and school officials need, first and foremost, to be sure it's on a track that works for the city, all of its students and its taxpayers.
The decision regarding Gloucester's future vocational/technical education programs is one that will affect the city and its schools for generations. And it may have a significant effect on the city's economy and workforce as well — whether the city goes regional, or pursues a local expansion.
Elected officials need to make sure they get it right. And that indeed is going to take more time.
