Committee Reviews Four Sites For New High School

PVMHS School Building Committee · Meeting of September 10, 2026

Peabody's high school building committee reviewed four potential sites for a new Peabody Veterans Memorial High School and new state reimbursement figures for the existing gym and auditorium. Architect James Liebman of HMFH Architects told the committee the state would reimburse up to 18,000 square feet of gymnasium space and up to 750 seats of auditorium space, well above the facility's current 644 seats. Mayor Ted Vancourt said a law firm hired to evaluate a project labor agreement for construction trades is expected to report back within weeks.

One committee member pegged project costs at "somewhere in the vicinity" of $400 million and cautioned that "tariffs are bumping everything up 40 percent." Members expect to ask voters for a debt exclusion as soon as spring 2028. No votes were taken beyond approval of the August 6 minutes.

In the full story:

• Administrative Business: Minutes and a Meeting Calendar
• Mayor's Update: Project Labor Agreement and Public Engagement
• Procurement Method: CM-at-Risk Discussion Deferred
• Introductions and Team Roles
• Educational Visioning: Lessons from School Tours
• Existing Conditions and Site Investigations
• Auditorium: Seats, Square Footage and MSBA Reimbursement
• Gymnasium and Field House: Space Tradeoffs
• Site Evaluation: Four Building Locations
• Debt Exclusion Timeline and Cost Concerns
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 2,990 words

Source: the PVMHS School Building Committee meeting of September 10, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.