REVERE — The state has given the city the green light to build a new high school.
A location for the building has not yet been determined.
“Optimistically, I’d envision a new high school at a new site,” said Superintendent Dianne Kelly. “This would enable us to convert the current high school to a central middle school, and then repurpose our current middle schools as elementary schools.”
The plan would allow for smaller class sizes, which would have a powerful impact on the district’s ability to prepare students for life after high school, said Kelly.
It will be six to eight years before students roam the halls, said Mayor Brian Arrigo.
The Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) announced its initial approval of the city’s bid for a new high school Wednesday. The MSBA, a quasi-independent government authority that helps fund the construction of school buildings, invited Revere High School into a 270-day eligibility period during which they will work together to determine the district’s financial and community readiness for the project.
“This is news we have wanted to hear for the past three years,” said Arrigo. “This assures that future generations of Revere Public Schools students will have the opportunity to avail themselves of the technological features and accommodations that form the pillars of high school education in the modern age.”
Since its inception in 2004, the MSBA has made more than $13.4 billion in reimbursements for school construction projects.
“The eligibility period is a critical step in the MSBA’s process of evaluating potential work on Revere High School,” said executive director Deborah B. Goldberg. “We look forward to our continued partnership with the district as it enters the eligibility period.”
Arrigo tempered any unrealistic expectations of how soon the doors would open at the new school.
“This is a first step,” he said. “It’s a huge first step, and without it, there is no second step. But now we embark on the long process that only begins with MSBA approval. We move on to feasibility studies, site selection, design, and eventually construction.”
He estimated the entire process could take six to eight years.
“We have made tremendous progress in our school system over the years, but the one missing piece from the equation was a state-of-the-art high school,” said Kelly.
The current Revere High School on School Street opened in September 1974. Many communities around Revere have constructed, and are currently constructing new high schools, but Revere lagged, she said. Saugus is constructing a new middle-high school with the MSBA that is expected to be completed by 2020. Like Revere, the other schools will be reorganized to use fewer buildings; Saugus will have one middle-high school, one upper elementary school, and one lower elementary school.
Both educational needs and the city’s demographics have changed over the years, which has generated new expectations of the school system.
“We in Revere are blessed with superb teachers, administrators, and staff who are dedicated to the highest ideals in public education for all our students,” said Arrigo. “Now, we will be able to maximize their efforts with a facility that matches their talent and commitment.”
A new high school aligns with what Arrigo calls “future Revere.” With substantial new development planned for the former Suffolk Downs race track, the abandoned Necco facility, and seven new hotels in the city, Arrigo said the city is in a good place to build a new school.
“A new high school is one more example of the future Revere, a city attracting businesses that provide good jobs, residents who value high-quality education, and, most importantly, a city where quality of life reflects the richness and history of our location and our past,” said Arrigo.
Revere completed a new school project with the new 103,000-square-foot Hill Elementary School in 2015. The MSBA contributed $29.5 million.