Friends of Vocational Technical & Agricultural Education,
Very interesting editorial from the Sentinel & Enterprise. This legislation would upend vocational school admissions that have been part of Chapter 74 admissions for decades. Please note that despite the information below this bill is not dead.
Some quotes from the editorial:
“Absent the construction of additional vocational technical high schools, state education officials should put a priority on expanding the footprint of existing ones, especially those that can’t accommodate their demand.
Nashoba Tech Superintendent Dr. Denise Pigeon said “the expansion will allow the school to increase enrollment. Prospective district students currently face a wait list fueled by increased enrollment demand, a factor that’s expected to continue for the foreseeable future”.
“According to the most recent state data, in the 2023-2024 school year, the state’s 26 regional vocational technical high schools received 20,335 applications for 10,305 first-year seats”.
David
Editorial: Nashoba’s new wing a blueprint for other tech schools to follow
OPINION EDITORIALS TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3RD 2024
Nashoba Tech Superintendent Denise Pigeon, surrounded by district, local and state officials, cuts the ribbon on the school’s new 7,000-square-foot wing that will house the Engineering Technology, Robotics and Programming & Web Development programs on Aug. 22, 2024.
By Editorial
Absent the construction of additional vocational technical high schools, state education officials should put a priority on expanding the footprint of existing ones, especially those that can’t accommodate their demand.
That’s exactly what happened at Nashoba Valley Technical High School.
The Westford-based district officially opened its new wing on Aug. 22, cutting the ceremonial ribbon on a 7,000-square-foot space that will house the Programming & Web Development, Engineering Technology and Robotics programs all under one roof, where students and staff members can work collaboratively.
The new wing is located on the eastern side of the campus, adjacent to the Advanced Manufacturing program. The gathering included state and local officials, district representatives, plus current and former students. Before the ceremonial ribbon-cutting, Nashoba Tech Superintendent Denise Pigeon told those assembled, “Today to me seems like the first day of school. This is so exciting.”
Pigeon said the expansion will allow the school to increase enrollment. Prospective district students currently face a wait list fueled by increased enrollment demand, a factor that’s expected to continue for the foreseeable future.
That’s not a problem unique to Nashoba Tech.
According to the most recent state data, in the 2023-2024 school year, the state’s 26 vocational technical high schools received 20,335 applications for 10,305 first-year seats.
Jeffrey Scheminger, Nashoba Tech’s technical director, also acted as the project manager for the new wing. He said when he served as the Engineering Technology instructor, the program was located at the opposite end of the school from Advanced Manufacturing, a program with which Engineering works closely.
“It always drove me crazy that I had to go all the way across the building to get to Advanced Manufacturing,” he said, adding that it wasn’t just the long walk, but also trying to maneuver two-ton pieces of machinery between the two programs.
It was during the COVID-19 shutdown that school administrators started to come up with the idea of relocating the four related programs — Programming & Web, Engineering, Robotics and Advanced Manufacturing — adjacent to each other.
Pigeon said it took a collaborative effort among staff, School Committee members and officials from the district’s eight member towns — Ayer, Chelmsford, Groton, Littleton, Pepperell, Shirley, Townsend, and Westford — to see the project through completion.
And a $3.75 million grant from the state’s Chapter 74 Vocational Instructional Space Facility Expansion program helped fund the construction. That award in January 2023 came in the last round of Skills Capital Grants under Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration.
Also, through state workforce grants, Nashoba Tech received an additional $2.5 million to modernize and expand instructional lab space in the Electrical Technology and Veterinary Assisting programs, which will allow a 50% increase in enrollment in those programs, as well as a $500,000 grant to replace outdated equipment in its cosmetology program.
The grants will also create an expansion of the school’s career training institute for adults.
This new construction project represents the first major addition since Nashoba Tech added two new wings in 2005 as part of a $25 million renovation/expansion.
Superintendent Pigeon said that adding the new wing freed up the space that now will be used to increase room for the construction programs, including Electrical Technology, Plumbing & Hearing and Carpentry, as those programs continue to grow in popularity with incoming students.
Pigeon, Scheminger and School Committee Chair Charlie Ellis praised the work of Littleton-based Triumph Modular, which submitted the winning bid to oversee the construction. Ground was broken in April, and the wing was completed in just four months.
Pigeon said with the opening of the school year on Aug. 28, enrollment stood just shy of 800.
Nashoba Tech opened its doors in 1969 with about 250 students.
Scheminger added that students were able to watch the progress of the construction, which made it even more special.
Industry partners with Nashoba Tech in putting the grant to use include Insulet Corporation in Acton, TUV Rhineland in Littleton, Keystone Precision & Engineering in Pepperell, TRAK Machine Tools in Boxborough and Red Hat in Westford, as well as the Middlesex 3 Coalition, Nashoba Valley Chamber of Commerce, North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce, Northeast Advanced Manufacturing Consortium, Mount Wachusett Community College, Middlesex Community College and four MassHire Workforce boards.
Given the imbalance in the supply of seats and those wanting to occupy them, a lottery system remains the only way to ensure a fair admission process.
But long term, more state resources must be allocated to technical high school expansion projects – like the one just completed at Nashoba Tech.
David J. Ferreira
MAVA Communications Coordinator
DavidFerreira
There is no substitute for hard work. ~Thomas A. Edison