CVCC is center of attention as work group weighs facilities options

David Delcore  | The Times Argus  |  February 26, 2026

BARRE — When it comes to solutions for the Central Vermont Career Center the line between “short-” and “long-term” has begun to blur.

A work group evaluating long-term options that would address the Barre-based career center’s facilities needs has tentatively settled on three, though, none of them provides a clear path to offering full-day programming to as many as 450 students from 18 central Vermont towns.

That’s roughly double the number of students currently served on a part-time basis in the wing of Spaulding High School that CVCC has occupied since it opened in 1969, and remains tethered to for the time being.

The working group, which was created in the wake of a failed $149 million bond vote that would have financed construction of a new standalone center off Baptist Street in Barre Town, has essentially ruled out a Spaulding-only solution.

The cramped campus, located on the fringe of the flood plain, is ill-suited to accommodate the expansion envisioned by CVCC, according to the group, which is nearing the end of its weeks-long review of possible alternatives.

Uncertainty about the future of Vermont’s public education landscape has complicated that exercise, just as it plagued the project that was the subject of last November’s failed bond vote.

Sue Paxman, a Barre Town resident who is among those serving on the advisory group, acknowledged as much when it renewed its review of a short list of options.

“Until we find out what the state is going to do I think (planning) ‘long-term solutions’ (isn’t realistic,” Paxman said. “It’s all ‘wish lists,’ it’s all ‘wonder,’ it’s all ‘maybe?’

“We have no idea what’s going on long-term,” she added.

It’s why the group crossed off the list re-purposing one of the schools that may be closed as statewide education reform conversations play out.

Launching satellite programs in space they were told isn’t available at any of its sending high schools was also dropped.

Both decisions were supported by Cam Featherstonhaugh, who works for the firm — TruexCullins Architecture + Interior Design — that designed the new 167,000-square-foot center that voters in the 18-town CVCC district rejected, 5,751-3,872, four months ago.

Featherstonhaugh acknowledged enrollment has declined over the last 20 years, but services have expanded, leaving schools without surplus space some mistakenly think is there.

As for the possibility of repurposing schools, Featherstonhaugh said unless the Barre Unified Union School District were to close one of its three schools — Spaulding and the separate pre-K-8 schools in Barre and Barre Town that feed it — he doesn’t believe there is one that is suitably sized.

“Would Twinfield (Union School) work?” Barre Town resident Paul Malone asked.

“I honestly would knock it down before I turned it into a (career) center,” replied Featherstonhaugh, who was similarly dismissive of one of the options that still has a pulse.

While there are variations on the theme, the proposal involves acquiring a former church-run school on Vine Street in Berlin and creating a second campus on the 6-acre property.

“This doesn’t sound like it’s the right long-term solution,” Featherstonhaugh said, suggesting: “It deserves to be looked at as a short-term stop gap.”

Others, including Paxman, Malone and CVCC board member Todd Comen, disagreed.

Comen acknowledged the solution wasn’t ideal, but agreed it should not be dismissed.

“I think it’s worth digging deeper on this option and maybe doing some preliminary work on what could it look like,” he said.

The “dual campus” concept was one of three discussed by the work group Monday night — a week after it agreed keep two other options in the mix.

One contemplates refining the proposal voters rejected last November, in an effort to bring down cost. The other would involve constructing a new center on U-32 Middle and High School’s campus in East Montpelier.

The latter idea was considered in the run-up to last year’s bond vote. While there were some advantages — including cost — the CVCC board settled on developing property it has under option in Barre Town.

All agreed the cost of that project killed it, and several wondered whether voters would support a scaled-back version of the proposal amid concerns about school spending, and uncertainty about what will happen, and when, with education reform.

The work group, which was tasked with evaluating long-term options, is slated to meet with CVCC’s facilities committee, which is looking into shorter-range solutions in April.

Based on Monday’s discussion there could be some overlap. The committee is evaluating the potential purchase of the automotive shop that is just across Ayers Street from Spaulding High School to address space constraints at the current center. That property was repeatedly mentioned by the work group Monday night, and could be part of a broader multi-campus model.

Any property acquisition would have to be approved by a vote of the district’s 18 member-towns, who will collectively determine the fate of its proposed budget on Town Meeting Day next Tuesday.

With elections already scheduled in August and November this year, it is likely voters in the CVCC district will be asked to approve something this year. What, isn’t yet clear and won’t be until after the committee and the work group compare notes and report to the board later this spring.