About 40 community members attended Wednesday night’s public forum at ConVal High School to learn about the proposed renovation of the Applied Technology Center, parts of the high school, and the Lucy Hurlin Theater.

ConVal’s Applied Technology Center is one of 20 like it in the state of New Hampshire and operates cooperatively with the career and technical education centers at Mascenic and Conant high schools. ConVal’s center offers classes in business, education, computer and information technology, digital photo and video, pre-engineering, graphic design, and manufacturing/welding. Mascenic offers automotive technology, and Conant offers construction trades.

Students from each school can take classes at each center.

About 51% of ConVal’s student body, or about 355 students, are currently enrolled in classes at the ATC.

The ConVal School District began planning renovations to the center two years ago in order to take advantage of regularly scheduled state funding designated for technical education upgrades. ConVal is eligible for nearly $15 million in funding, which is only available in 2024-2025. Historically, the state has funded 75% of the cost of renovation projects at career and technical education centers.

“If we do not apply for this funding this year, it goes away,” said Jennifer Kiley, Director of the ATC.

The ConVal School Board is considering presenting the following options to district voters: to fund the entire project in 2025; to defer the project for this year; to complete the project in two phases, with the ATC and high school renovations scheduled for 2025 and renovations to the Lucy Hurlin Theater in 2026; or to renovate only the ATC and high school, and defer the renovations to the theater.

“I used to be an English teacher, and I would constantly hear from kids, ‘Why do we have to learn this?’” Kiley said. “No one ever asks that in the ATC. We help kids find different pathways to careers.”

Kiley explained that the center works with local employers, including American Steel, NH Ball Bearings, and Monadnock Community Hospital to learn how best to prepare students to enter the local workforce.

“Our students fill gaps in the local job market,” Kiley said. “One example of what we have learned from local employers is that a lot of job candidates lack measurement skills, so we have started a metrology certification program. The employers we work with love our interns. What we hear is that our ATC kids learn really valuable soft skills that young people might not otherwise learn, such as communication, the ability to collaborate, and accountability.”

Planned upgrades to the technical center and the high school include re-configuring classrooms, upgrading technology and equipment, and program expansions, including animal science and health science. The proposed renovations to the high school include the creation of a single, secure front entryway, which was recommended by the state.

Curtis Hamilton of Greenfield, a member of the ConVal budget committee, presented the financial impacts of the different options for the project. The total cost of the technical center/high school renovation project was estimated at $33,479,125. State funding is estimated to come in at $14,732,773, leaving an estimated $18,746,352, which would have to be covered by a bond approved by district voters. Renovations to the auditorium would require voters to approve an additional $10,657,002 bond. If voters approved the renovations to the technical center and high school, the tax impact on households would average about $200 a year for a home worth $500,000, with the first year bond payment being the most expensive, and payments decreasing after that. Hamilton noted that if Francestown and Dublin vote to withdraw from the district costs would be recovered through tuition from those towns.

Members of the public questioned the timing and cost of the proposal during the question and answer session following the forum. In 2024, ConVal’s attempt to begin the process of reconfiguring the district’s eleven schools to address the strains of low enrollment failed at the polls, leaving many residents wondering why the school district would propose expensive renovations when enrollment is falling.

“My question and comment is that what you are proposing may not be fair to Peterborough. Our taxes are $32.50 per thousand per assessed value. Of that, $12.17 goes to the town, and $17.41 goes to the school. Jen had mentioned that we should be investing in our students. We have been, and that is shown in our tax rate,” said John Marcinkus of Peterborough.

Information about the project can be found at: https://schoolboard.conval.ed u/ en-us.