Career center bond prompts pushback at public forum
October 10, 2025 | By David Delcore | Times ArgusBARRE — Plans to construct a new, standalone, state-of-the-art home for the Central Vermont Career Center encountered turbulence during Tuesday night’s required public informational meeting, even as voters in 18 area towns are already casting ballots on the $149 million bond that would pay for it.
If approved during a special election set for Nov. 4, the 30-year bond, which is the only thing on the ballot in most of those towns, would finance a modern facility built to provide full-day programming to up to 500 students. It would easily double the capacity of the current center, which has operated out of a wing at Spaulding High School since it was built in 1969.
Due to space and staffing constraints, as well as an increase in the popularity of its programs, the center is unable to accommodate dozens of interested students from its six sending high schools. The new facility would put a detectable dent in that number and, as envisioned, would eliminate the need for students it serves to spend part of their day at the center and the balance at the high school.
Superintendent Jody Emerson, who arrived a few minutes late because she was pitching the project to people at the Canadian Club, said the project is the product of a year-long initiative that predated her hiring, and the creation of the autonomous CVCC district.
The goals — serving more students, increasing academic achievement, providing pathways to jobs that pay well — haven’t changed and, Emerson said, the 167,000-square-foot facility proposed off Baptist Street in Barre Town emerged as the best possible solution.
“This is meant to be a facility that is functional, safe, and integrated in the community fabric, while providing a specialized space required for high-quality career and technical education,” she said, during an overview of the project, and the consultant-led process that informed the board’s decision-making.
Both came in for some criticism during the public portion of the 90-minute informational meeting.
Though there was broad support for the center, as well as the importance of its programs, beyond the board and its architect, there wasn’t much support for a project several described as ill-timed, one characterized as “tone-deaf,” and another equated to the “Taj Mahal.”
At its height, perhaps three dozen residents — most of them remote participants — attended the meeting, which, unlike other outreach initiatives, was required by law. Not all of them spoke, and one of them — Barre Town resident Linda Owen — enthusiastically endorsed the project.
Now retired, Owen once taught at the Randolph Technical Center, and suggested Vermont’s aging workforce will need an infusion of skilled labor from auto mechanics, to plumbers, to nurses.
“We have to have this (new) center,” she said, adding: “We need to do this sooner rather than later.”
On Tuesday night, Owen’s wasn’t the most popular answer to a question posed earlier in the evening by School Director Guy Isabelle.
“If not now, when?” Isabelle asked, expressing his unwavering support for a project that would give more students access to the programs the career center provides.
The collective answer of those critical of the proposal — not the career center, or the programs it provides — could be summed up in two words: “not now.”
That was the view of Barre Town resident Sue Paxman, who peppered the board with questions about the project; and Barre resident Amy Galford, who was among those who questioned its timing. It was shared by others, including Montpelier residents James Castellano and Dvora Jonas.
Paxman, offered what became a familiar prebuttal, among those skeptical of the proposal voters are being asked to approve.
“I, and everyone I know, supports education in the trades and in tech(nology), she said. “That’s a given, all right. Everyone knows how much we need students coming out of school with good trade skills, and good tech skills … (but) $149 million? That’s another question.”
Paxman said she wasn’t convinced Spaulding High School, which was built for more than 1,200 students, and now enrolls less than half of that, couldn’t accommodate career center expansion. She said those who own property in Barre and Barre Town face steep tax increases associated with the bond, before factoring in the increased operational cost of a new center, and the loss of revenue it now generates for the Barre district.
Taxes and timing were front of mind for many individuals who spoke.
Castellano was among them.
“Your timing is very unfortunate,” he said, citing an ongoing school redistricting initiative proposed by lawmakers in response to escalating costs and declining enrollments.
Those factors contributed to the legislative decision to use nearly $120 million in one-time money to stabilize education tax rates this year.
Castellano wasn’t the first, nor the last, to call attention to what he viewed as an extravagant design.
“My God, this is almost like the Taj Mahal,” he said.
It was Galford who called the board’s $149 million ask “tone-deaf.” She noted communities — from Barre and Montpelier to Plainfield — were still recovering from back-to-back summer floods and, at least in Barre’s case, were confronted with making necessary infrastructure improvements, and attempting to address a housing crisis.
Galford questioned the timing of the bond vote, when it isn’t at all clear what redistricting may mean to the composition, including the one that operates the career center.
“(We’re) talking about a bond that’s going to run for decades, (and) I don’t even know what school districts are going to look like in three years,” she said.
Most of those who spoke said they appreciated the board’s desire to serve more students, but wondered whether there were more economical ways to accomplish that goal.
For their part, board members expressed unflinching support for the proposal they believe is good for the students, good for the district, and good for the local economy.
Early voting is underway, and polls will be open in all 18 towns until 7 p.m. on Nov. 4.
Ballots won’t be tabulated until after there are commingled on Nov. 6, when one result will be reported.
According to Emerson, “yes” will mean “yes” and “no” will mean “maybe.”
Emerson said a favorable vote next month, the next year will be spent on design and permitting, with an eye toward breaking ground in spring 2027. Construction would be complete in time for the new center to welcome its first students in fall 2029.
If voters reject the bond, Emerson said, they may see it, or something like it, on Town Meeting Day next year.
“If it does not pass, I anticipate the (board’s) facilities committee would come back and determine what if anything they need to change, and whether or not they go for a second (bond) vote (in March),” she said.
This story was originally published by The Times Argus on Oct. 8.