CVCC officials hope latest career center bond is easier sell

September 10, 2026  |  By David Delcore  |  The Times Argus

BARRE — The pitch for the latest bond proposal involving the Central Vermont Career Center is pretty simple: better price, better place, and, in retrospect, a superior solution to what has become a persistent problem.

Voters in 18 towns across the six school districts currently served by the regional career center can expect to hear some form of that message a lot between now and November.

With the CVCC board poised to warn the Nov. 3 special election when it meets next week, a campaign designed to persuade voters to do what they refused to a year ago is ready to launch, and “we listened” is a central theme.

Though not listening really wasn’t an option after last year’s bond vote failed by nearly 1,900 votes on a day when roughly 9,600 ballots were cast, CVCC officials can credibly claim they heard — and heeded — what many voters were saying at the time.

Many complained the project’s $149 million price tag was excessive, while the proposed Barre Town location on the southern fringe of the center’s service area was puzzling to some, and there were nagging questions about the need for a brand-new stand-alone facility. There were questions about the timing of the vote amid swirling uncertainty involving potential school district consolidation that could lead to future school closures.

Voters who want to wait until the dust has settled on conversations that are just now starting will likely vote “no” on a proposal proponents claim is at least aligned with the direction the Legislature appears interested in heading regarding public education.

It’s one that doesn’t completely sever ties with Spaulding High School in Barre, where the center has operated under an evolving list of names since it opened in 1969. Retaining its wing at Spaulding for its construction- and transportation-related programs is a key piece of the proposal, though the center’s annual budget — not the bond — would finance improvements to that facility.

The bond would pay for construction of a new satellite center on the East Montpelier campus of U-32 Middle and High School. The proposed free-standing two-story structure would create a new home for the broad mix of programs in the center’s health and natural sciences pathway, as well as its arts, business and hospitality pathway.

In many respects, it couldn’t be more different than last year’s proposal to consolidate all of CVCC’s programs under one, new $149 million roof built on what would have been a newly created campus in Barre Town.

However, there is at least one similarity. The multi-campus model voters will soon be asked to approve addresses the same problem the one they rejected last year would have. If approved, it would expand the center’s capacity from roughly 245 to 450 students, allowing the center to serve students it now routinely turns away. Creating more access to programs designed to bolster Vermont’s workforce and create a clear path to good-paying jobs for students was considered a compelling argument a year ago.

CVCC officials believe it still is and are hoping it won’t get swamped by critiques of a proposal designed to address the shortcomings of the one voters in 18 central Vermont towns collectively rejected.

Thanks to a process that spanned nearly six months, explored various options, and included some of the loudest critics of the failed bond, the latest proposal attempts to address key concerns.

Cost was one of them, and while $54.9 million is still a lot of money, it’s a lot less than $149 million. It’s also less than the $73 million ballpark estimate provided by CVCC’s architect earlier this year.

A professional cost estimator is the source of the number that will appear on the latest batch of CVCC ballots. Part of the reason for what amounts to a $94 million difference is that the building being proposed on the U-32 campus is significantly smaller than one that would have been built to house all the CVCC’s programs in Graniteville. Some is attributable to savings associated with on an already-developed campus, instead of a large rural parcel where the only structure was a home that would have had to be razed to make room for the new building, parking and other infrastructure.

The Graniteville site was widely considered a head-scratching choice — one that couldn’t be further removed from almost all the towns currently served by CVCC. Wetlands were an issue, and traffic was a concern, and while neither were considered insurmountable hurdles, they did nothing to help already skeptical voters get to “yes.”

Though building on the U-32 campus will require relocating a playing field and paving a dirt parking lot, the campus can easily absorb the proposed structure.

Forging a strategic alliance with U-32 while retaining an existing relationship with Spaulding is viewed as a strength of the latest proposal. The multi-campus model is more in keeping with conversations about creating comprehensive regional high schools than constructing a new building on a separate site.

In order for the project to proceed, voters in the 18-town CVCC district, which includes the Barre, Montpelier-Roxbury, Washington Central, Harwood, Twinfield and Cabot districts, must collectively approve the bond. They must also authorize entering a 30-year land lease with Washington Central, which owns U-32.

Voters in Washington Central’s five towns — Berlin, Calais, East Montpelier, Middlesex, and Worcester — must separately authorize the lease.

Though the lease is still being negotiated, its terms are expected to be available later this month.