FAIRFAX SAYS "NO WAY RTA"

Tuesday September 28, 2004
No way to RTA (for now)

By LEE J. KAHRS Messenger Staff Writer

FAIRFAX –– The Fairfax School Board Monday night voted unanimously against supporting the current proposal for a Regional Technical Academy (RTA) in Chittenden County.

That action, the Messenger learned this morning, is expected to be followed soon by a joint statement of protest from teachers and administrators at nine schools in the RTA district.

The Fairfax board last night voted 5-0 against the proposal following a Powerpoint presentation in the elementary school gymnasium by Leslie Williams of the RTA governance board. The presentation was open to the public.

The board held the vote following a motion reiterating its position on technical education.

"We support technical education strongly but do not support the present proposal put forth by the Regional Technical Academy Board," said board chair Peg Stewart. "We would like to work through our representative to develop the best plan for Bellows Free Academy students."

Bellows Free Academy-Fairfax Principal Scott Lang said he supports the board's action, but recognizes the difficulty of the decision.

"I think the board's action was important and I think it was hard," Lang said in a phone interview this morning. "Technical education is very important to this community and it's hard to say 'no.'"

Lang also said that guidance counselors and principals from the nine key high schools in the RTA district will issue a signed statement, also expressing their decision not to support the RTA proposal.

"I don't know how much of an impact it will have," Lang said, "But we felt it was important."

Mount Mansfield High School Principal Bob Stevens said he expects the statement to contain at least 15 signatures from principals and/or guidance counselors from BFA-Fairfax, Winooski, Milton, Colchester, Burlington, South Burlington, Champlain Valley Union High School, and Essex High School.

Stevens said BFA-St. Albans may sign the statement as well, even though the school is not in the RTA district, as a show of support for the other schools. The BFA-St. Albans campus is home to the Northwest Technical Center, a facility that has been proposed as a possible option for Fairfax students.

The RTA board has said that they hope the RTA will evolve into a four-year, diploma-granting school over time. Stevens said that's not good enough.

"That's $44 million worth of faith they're trying to sell," he said. "There's nobody in education now I can see who's supporting this."

The RTA would merge the existing technical centers at Essex and Burlington into one location at the now-defunct Jogbra factory in Essex. The center would be a single, two-year, non-diploma granting, secondary technical school serving grades 11 and 12.

Opponents believe the RTA could spell financial ruin for sending communities such as Fairfax and Georgia because each student who attends it will siphon off state and federal grant money originally intended for his or her home school.

If the cost per pupil to send students to the RTA rises to $15,000, as projected, BFA-Fairfax could lose millions of dollars in revenue in just a few years.

The RTA school district was formed in March following a less-than-overwhelming vote to approve the district and the RTA governance board.

The three Franklin County sending towns, Fairfax, Georgia and Fletcher, voted overwhelmingly against forming an RTA school district and governance board.

Voters in 23 towns in Chittenden, Franklin and Grand Isle will go to the polls again on Nov. 2 and vote whether or not to approve the construction of the RTA.

The vote by the Fairfax board is the latest in a number of positions taken by sending school boards, technical education teachers and administrators against the proposed $44 million RTA.

In August, the Georgia board also issued a statement against supporting the RTA. Board members voted 4-1 to allow Franklin West Supervisory Union Superintendent Phil Higgins to contact the Vermont Department of Education and investigate membership in another technical education district.

The original RTA proposal called for a four-year diploma-granting school with athletics and after-school activities occupying two-buildings at the Jogbra site. The original cost was estimated at $58 million.

Over the last six months, the RTA board has scaled down the plan to cut costs, merging the school into a single building and cutting athletics and activities. Transportation became the responsibility of the sending schools and a fewer number of new courses were added to the curriculum.

In August, State Commissioner of Education Richard Cate determined that the RTA would enroll no more than 947 students, about 300 less than the maximum of 1,250 backers originally claimed.

Under current state law, the RTA is eligible for 100 percent state funding of technical center construction costs. Last month, Cate committed $44.2 million in state money to the project after the RTA board scaled back the cost and design of the tech center.

Where that money will come from remains to be seen. The entire capital budget for the state of Vermont for this year stands at $40 million.

Now, educators from Chittenden County Schools as well are coming out against the proposal, citing the high price tag, a continuing lack of information, and a constantly changing proposal. Last week, teachers from the Burlington and Essex tech centers met with the RTA board to voice their disapproval of the tech center proposal, saying 92 percent of teachers in those tech centers do not support the proposed RTA.