GMTCC Addition Gets Unexpectedly Low Funding
by Ben Hogwood

HYDE PARK - "They are solidly behind this project...but they really have
to come up to the bar," said Lamoille North Supervisory Union
Superintendent Terry Bailey, concerning the state's decision to
contribute just 24 percent towards the Green Mountain Technology and
Career Center construction project.
The Lamoille Union School District #18 board decided to delay the bond
vote, which would have taken place on Tuesday, November 2, in hopes of
getting the state to contribute more. The board met on Tuesday,
September 21.
The project, estimated at a total cost of $14,697,360, is to renovate
and add to the GMTCC location in Hyde Park and build classrooms and labs
for a satellite program at Hazen Union. Currently, the state has offered
to pick up around $3.6 million of that, with the other $10.2 being paid
by the towns sending students to the school. Joe Teegarden, director of
GMTCC, said he didn't expect the state to contribute the full 50
percent, but was very surprised at the contribution it did decide upon.
"Nobody imagined it would be 25 percent," he said.
The state based that figure on the number of students that could enroll
at the school and how that relates to the square footage of the project.
However, the state came up with a student enrollment of 202 - less than
the current enrollment of 203. Teegarden said that with the renovation,
GMTCC - including the satellite program at Hazen - could have an
enrollment of over 270 students. Bob Giroux, business manager of LNSU,
said the state is not taking into account the growth of students,
especially with the new programs that will be offered.
However, Giroux was confident that the state would contribute more money
upon further discussion. "It can only go up," he said. Based on the
enrollment capacity of GMTCC, the state should pay around 37 percent -
or $5.4 million - of the project, he said.
Board members were clearly disappointed with the state's decision. "It
aggravates me that Chittenden is getting all the money for this kind of
a project and we're getting left out," said Peter Ingvoldstad, chair of
the board, referring to the $44 million project planned in Essex.
"There are ramifications to waiting on this project," Teegarden told the
board. If a bond vote is delayed by as little as six weeks after
November 2, the project would likely have to be pushed back by a year to
work around the weather. Inflation could also affect the cost of the
project.
Board member Bill Sander presented the motion to delay an approval vote
to a time when more information is available. The board unanimously agreed.
After the meeting, Teegarden said he was happy with the board's decision
and did not expect them to approve the project with what the state offered.
However, he stressed that the project does need to be accomplished.
"It's a facility that needs to be done," he said. "We need to plan for
the future."