The June 20 ballot vote rejecting a new school building for Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical district has not affected the morale of the school community, according to Superintendent Aaron Polansky.
“They have demonstrated tremendous resilience and have remained focused on what matters most — our students and the quality of the education and opportunities we provide them each day,” Polansky said.
“While the outcome of the building project vote was certainly disappointing, our faculty and staff understand that our mission has not changed.”
The $289 million project would have replaced the facility at 47 North Street with a more modern structure.
According to web reports, the original school building was constructed in 1975, and an addition was built in 1986 for the metal fabrication and welding program.
The vocational district accepts students from Rochester, Lakeville, Carver, Acushnet and Mattapoisett. Every community except Mattapoisett voted against it.
A “yes” vote would have triggered a debt exclusion override — or a temporary tax increase — to fund the communities’ portion of the expense.
The state School Building Authority would have reimbursed approximately $129 million.
Polansky and other school authorities have said the aging building has infrastructure deficiencies. Polansky said the district is identifying the most serious needs first and will name them and a remediation plan by the end of the calendar year.
Polansky said they don’t have any repair priorities in place yet but hopes to present the repair plan by the year’s end.
“We need to make sure that the decisions we make today are part of a thoughtful and strategic plan for the future,” Polansky said. “The needs of the facility have not gone away, so our responsibility now is to determine how we can best address those needs in a responsible and sustainable way while continuing to consider the long-term future of the district.”
By Jeffrey Wagner