FAIRFAX AT REGIONAL TECHNICAL ACADEMY CROSSROADS

Tuesday September 14, 2004
Fairfax at RTA crossroads

By LEE J. KAHRS Messenger Staff Writer - Photos by Henry Raymond

FAIRFAX –– About 60 people attended a community meeting sponsored by the Fairfax School Board here Monday night. The board asked to hear from the community regarding the proposed Lake Champlain Regional Technical Academy (RTA) in Chittenden County.

At stake is whether Fairfax and its high school, Bellows Free Academy (BFA), will remain in the RTA tech district. The RTA concept was adopted, subject to further study, in March after a Town Meeting Day vote in more than 20 towns approved the district and a governance board.

The consensus last night was that BFA-Fairfax should get out while the getting is good, before the RTA attracts education dollars away from the local school district.

"There is too much energy in Chittenden County pushing this thing forward," said Fairfax resident Jeff Chapman, "And we're getting dragged along with it."

"Maybe we need to think about a tech center for Franklin County, rather than focusing on Chittenden County," said Northwest Technical Center Instructor Sal Wiggin.

Sen. Vincent Illuzzi, R-Orleans County, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, shown above speaking with former Representative Ed Paquin while Jeff Benay looks on, was invited to explain the state funding formula for technical centers. The Appropriations Committee deals with state aid for school construction projects.

"By default, we have become players in where and how tech centers are built and how they will be funded," Illuzzi told the audience assembled in the BFA elementary school gymnasium.

Also on hand were Sen. Don Collins, D-Franklin County, shown above with Peggy Stewart, Sen. Sara Kittell, D-Franklin County, Rep. Carolyn Branagan, R-Georgia, and Rep. George Cross, D-Winooski.

If Fairfax did leave the RTA district, with the approval of the Vermont Board of Education, tech students would most likely attend the Northwest Technical Center in St. Albans.

The $44 million 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, diploma-granting, secondary technical school serving grades 11 and 12.

If the project is approved by the state board, the RTA board plans a final, public vote on the project in November. Construction would start immediately, according to the board's timeline, and plans are to open the doors by September 2005.

The RTA board said it would provide state-of-the-art facilities and a wider range of technical education programs than is currently offered at existing centers, the promise of which may encourage a higher number of students from sending schools to attend. The problem is that each student attending the facility would take state and federal grant money originally intended for his or her home school to the RTA.

Fairfax sends approximately 50 students a year to Chittenden County tech centers. BFA principal Scott Lang has estimated that about 90 students will opt to attend the RTA if it is built.

If the cost per pupil to send students to the RTA rises to between $11,000 and $15,000 annually, as projected, BFA-Fairfax could lose millions of dollars in revenue in a just a few years.

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.

The RTA is not merely an expensive proposal for Fairfax, but for the state as well. 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. The project went from a two-building design to a single-building concept and the original $58 million cost was scaled down by $10 million to $15 million.

The entire capital budget for the state of Vermont for this year stands at $40 million. The difference between the expected funding and the reality of the state's near-empty coffers was not lost on Illuzzi.

"How are we going to handle that? That's a question I can't answer," he said. "People have been banking on that support and we will provide, I just can't tell you when."

The senator said that state aid to school construction this year totals $4 million.

The RTA is second in line for 100 percent state funding behind the Newport tech center, and ahead of the Brattleboro center, Illuzzi said.

Not everyone at the meeting was against the RTA. Fairfax resident Nancy Goss said she was concerned that Northwest Technical Center would not offer Fairfax students the same quality programs and courses as the Essex center.

"BFA is a small school with limited choice now. Is limiting choice even more the way we want to go?" she asked.

BFA-St. Albans Headmaster Paul Clark, formerly the director of the Northwest Technical Center, said Fairfax students would be well-served in St. Albans.

"We think we provide the best technical education in the state," he said clearly. "BFA-St. Albans would be happy to have a discussion with BFA here and do what we can to accommodate you."

At the end of the 90-minute meeting, Fairfax School Board Chair Peg Stewart said the board will bear the community's opinion and the well-being of students in mind when making it's decision.

"We need to take into consideration that we are a unique school," she said. "We have to consider the elementary and middle school students, as well as the high school students. Either way, it comes down to funding and providing a quality education for our students."

Stewart said after the meeting that the board will make the decision whether to leave the RTA tech district no later than it's Oct. 7 meeting.