17/12/2025
I am writing to respond to the recent article that I am quoted in regarding Winthrop and our vocational high school, Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational High School.
First, I disagree with the sentiments of the writer. This includes the misleading title and the unnecessary criticism of leadership regarding the relationship with NE Metro and how it relates to the concept of apportionment, which is our share of seats as a sending community. In reading the article, it can be interpreted as somewhat insulting by students, alumni, parents, and leadership to name a few groups.
I am grateful for the experience, and in the future I will ask if the writer has any intentions on the theme. I will also ask to see a draft before publication. I had a phone call with the writer that I wrongly assumed was more of a casual screener, and asked at the end about meeting in person for the interview. He said that the phone call was the interview. Yes, that is on me, yet it is worth mentioning because the tone and context of my quotes in the article are not a true representation of the conversation.
Here are some reflections:
It is not accurate or fair to say that Winthrop is one of NE Metro’s most disinterested communities.
Distance and the commute are known, and the bussing service is available and adequate.
I regret sharing my personal experience, as it reads to me that it leverages a ‘dilemma’, that may be more about personal and family choice, which I’m grateful that people in Winthrop have.
There are no plans for satellite expansion of vocational training as far as I am aware. I mentioned the Viking Longship program, and talked about my own high school experience in the 1980’s where vocational training access was still more common in smaller high schools. The ’ship has sailed’ comment was connected to the evolution of regional vocational schools within that context, and not as some current discussion.
After the last School Committee meeting, we learned about the Early College program statistics of having the largest percentage of participants in the state. I emailed the writer, and posted on this as a way to celebrate what students are doing. It is not a ‘main act of boundary breaking’. It is student exposure and experience. It is not helpful to create a false narrative that academic and vocational experiences are mutually exclusive, especially when it comes to young people.
The theater in the new building was not in question from a building or budget point of view to my knowledge. I did make a comment about the advantages, though I did not have to ‘successfully defend’ the concept.
The valedictorian did not ‘turn down’ scholarship money. He did take a job that also came with educational benefits and the use of a vehicle.
I will add that the writer’s initial outreach led with a question about why I don’t attend more Town Council meetings, and with the assumption that I was dragged into the role as a write-in candidate that was not interested in service. It is not common or part of a sending town representative's responsibility to attend Town Council meetings, and I have attended when invited. I share this because it sets a tone that leans more toward adversity rather than relationship building.
I hope that this response is helpful in bringing clarity to my stance as Winthrop’s School Committee Representative at Northeast Metropolitan Vocational High School.
As the Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational Technical School nears the opening of its new $317 million home, amid a jump in demand for career-focused training, Winthrop remains one of its mos…
