Old Colony Building Project returns to polls June 20

ROCHESTER —  Voters will once again be asked to approve a $288 million project proposal for a new Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School building on Saturday, June 20. 

The five member towns — Rochester, Mattapoisett, Lakeville, Acushnet and Carver —will be asked to approve the same plan voters denied in November. 

The new building would increase the student population from approximately 560 to 776 students and eliminate aging infrastructure, failing systems, a lack of fire protection and no water redundancy.

Updates would include more classroom space, updated equipment and updated technology as part of an entirely new high school building.

Increased space would also allow the school to offer three new programs for HVAC, plumbing and dental assisting.

Of the total $288 million project, the Massachusetts School Building Authority and other grants will cover $140 million of the cost. The member towns will split the remaining $148 million.

Superintendent Aaron Polansky said there is no “zero cost” option, since the building requires major repairs. 

“The biggest piece we want people to understand is that the cost of a ‘no’ vote is very likely to be significantly more costly with a lesser return on investment than building a new high school,” Polansky said. 

He said if the project is denied, tax payers will have to pay the full cost of repairing the building without any grant assistance from the state. 

If the project is denied again Old Colony will begin necessary repairs in phases. This will cause disruption in education for  nine or more years as repairs take place. 

Polansky said he hopes the new building can create a positive learning environment. 

“My hope for students is that they can come to school every day in a modern day learning facility without having to worry about some of the issues we face in the current antiquated facility,” he said. 

Polansky and other representatives of the Old Colony Building Project are hosting online meetings addressing questions about the project. 

The next meetings are on Wednesday, June 10 at 7 p.m. and Thursday, June 18 at 7 p.m. 

There will also be an open, in-person meeting going over the project details at Old ColonySaturday, June 6 at 10 a.m. Old Colony is located at 476 North Ave.