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Someone driving past the Tri-County Regional Vocational-Technical School atop Bright’s Hill might assume that the tidy and well-maintained structures at the heart of the campus are new or nearly so. And not obviously in need of repair, let alone replacement.
But that’s just what’s in store, and needed according to school officials.
"We are excited to be looking forward at the future of Tri-County through this building project. As we have seen over the past several months through the many gaps in our workforce, vocational education is more important than ever," said Franklin's Jen D'Angelo, a member of the Tri-County School Committee.
"Franklin has been part of the Tri-County family for over 60 years and we are fortunate to have such a longstanding and collaborative relationship with the town and its many departments and organizations," she continued.
At the moment, the key player in the process is the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA), a successor to the state’s School Building Assistance Program (SBA), once administered by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and blamed for making a financial mess of things.
In 2004, the Romney administration launched MSBA, which acts as the intermediary between financial players and the state’s hundreds of school districts, and has been chugging along ever since, handling billions of dollars with no apparent troubles. Its blessing and inputs are key to any school project in the state.
According to the school project website, the maximum amount that the MSBA will contribute for this project will be determined at the conclusion of the Schematic Design phase, likely to be in the summer of 2023. The preliminary reimbursement rate agreement with the MSBA has been set using a base reimbursement rate of 52.89% of “eligible costs”.
All of this, and a detailed timeline, will be part of the presentation
Tri-County Superintendent Karen Maguire is expected to share with the Council on Wednesday.
According to the web site, there is not expected to be any impact from the project on students or regular school operations; assuming the 11 towns in the district each agree to the plans.
"We are committed to creating a safe and modern facility to train our future workforce in this region," said D'Angelo. "We are excited to bring this educational institution into the next 60 plus years of developing talented and skilled employees," she added.
According to the presentation, the dates to watch for in coming months are:
•Community Presentation #4 – May-June, 2023 •
2 nd Town Clerk’s Information Breakfast – April-May, 2023
•Joint School Committee and School Building Committee Meetings- Spring 2023
•Preliminary Schematic Design Report to MSBA for Board Approval – June 2023
•Regional Community-wide vote to fund the project –Oct 2023
