Frequently Asked Questions
What is Whittier Tech?
Whittier Tech is a regional vocational high school in Haverhill. Founded in 1967, it serves students in 11 surrounding communities: Amesbury, Georgetown, Groveland, Haverhill, Ipswich, Merrimac, Newbury, Newburyport, Rowley, Salisbury, and West Newbury.
First and foremost, Whittier is a high school. It has the same statewide standard curriculum requirements, an extensive athletics program and overhead costs of a traditional high school. Whittier also offers vocational courses in the trades (carpentry, electrical, masonry and plumbing), manufacturing (HVAC and metal fabrication), transportation (auto body/collision repair and automotive technology) and services (cosmetology, culinary, and hospitality).
How many students attend Whittier?
1,275 students attended Whittier in 2022, the last date figures were available in the Whittier budgets.
How is Whittier managed and governed?
Whittier has its own management structure, personnel and school committee that operate independently from the member communities. The Whittier School Committee is comprised of appointed, not elected, representatives from each community. Cities get two members; towns get one member.
How is Whittier funded?
Whittier is funded by its 11 member communities. Per the 1967 founding agreement, operating costs are allocated based on the number of students each community has enrolled at Whittier. Capital costs are allocated based on the number of students in each community’s school district.
Each community is responsible for the project’s capital cost regardless of how many students they send to Whittier.
Why are operational and capital expenses funded differently?
The 1967 Whittier agreement is not standard; other regional vocational high schools in Massachusetts assess operating and capital costs to their member communities based on student enrollment.
The cost allocation for Tri-County Regional Vocational Technical High School and Northeast Metropolitan Regional Voc Tech, for example, is based on number of students who attend, versus number of students in the member school district.