Following the tragic deaths of six Billerica Memorial High School (BMHS) students in the 1990s, the school’s Class of ’94 established a quiet, respectful and peaceful memorial area in their honor within the school grounds. The Memorial stands to this day, in quiet dignity, as a mark of respect, as well as a place where family, friends and students alike can remember their loved ones. It consists of six trees planted for each student, alongside six small plaques bearing their names; Ami Jones, Carrie Keyes, Jeff Dunakin, Amy Ward, Verity Colon and Chris Eastman.

It has recently come to our attention that the memorial is scheduled soon to be destroyed, to make way for the construction of an athletic complex and track as part of Superintendent Tim Piwowar’s plan to build a new school on the site currently occupied by BMHS. 

As a response, the Class of 94' established the Memorial Preservation Group (MPG) to protect the students' memory. The MPG has been in touch with the Superintendent and School Committee to discuss the future of the memorial, which was not specifically addressed when the decision was taken to construct the athletic complex. The families, friends and classmates of the students were not informed of the decision, nor were they even consulted about what appropriate action the school could take to ensure that these students’ memories and legacies were not literally paved-over. Even more sadly, the current memorial went unmentioned at the meeting where the decision was made to approve the new construction in its place.

The MPG, which has the support of the students’ families, believes the memorial trees and plaques should remain on school grounds. We have no wish to impede the construction of a new school that can better serve the needs of today’s students. However, we do not believe that this should come at the cost of the memory of yesterday’s students. Superintendent Tim Piwowar disagrees. He believes that student memorials are “not appropriate for a school setting.” We believe that all memorials, once established, deserve a degree of respect. 

We would deeply appreciate your support to stop the removal of the BMHS student memorial, while we continue to campaign for its preservation. We at the MPG do not think that keeping the trees and plaques on campus is too much to ask of the Superintendent; nor do we believe it constitutes a significant burden on the school within the context of the total cost of construction of the new site. The final decision on the memorial is due to be decided by a School Committee meeting on May 6th. We sincerely hope that we will be at that meeting with your support.

On behalf of our friends and their families, we thank you.

The Memorial Preservation Group