Peabody schools receive anonymous $50G donation

PEABODY – Don’t delete that junk email just yet because it could be a legitimate offer you wouldn’t want to miss out on. Just ask Superintendent Milton Burnett.Burnett and his staff received an email a few weeks back from a man saying he wished to donate a large sum of money to Peabody Schools’ Vocational Department. Worried it could be spam, but hoping it wasn’t, Burnett forwarded the message to Assistant Superintendent Joe Mastrocola, Vocational Director Maria Ferri, and the city’s grant writer to further investigate the “too good to be true” email.The email offered its recipients a donation in the amount of $25,000 to be used specifically for funding a school electronics program, such as robotics, and any necessary technical equipment. Burnett said that because so few schools took the email serious enough to respond and show interest, the amount offered to Peabody was then doubled to $50,000.The man behind this generous act wishes to remain anonymous, although Burnett said he was a resident of the North Shore.Burnett, Mayor Michael Bonfanti, and the entire School Committee were appreciative of the donation. Dave McGeney said that merely accepting with gratitude “just doesn’t seem sufficient” enough. The Committee plans to acknowledge the man responsible in more formal manner they see fit.