What I heard over, and over, and over again is that we listened, we went back, we considered other

Voters Back $54.9 Million CVCC Bond After Prior Defeat

“What I heard over, and over, and over again is that we listened, we went back, we considered other ideas, and we came up with something new,” said Emerson regarding the decisive voter approval of a scaled-down $54.9 million regional vocational bond.

Voters across the towns of Washington Central—Berlin, Calais, East Montpelier, and Worcester—turned out 16,535 ballots to approve the funding on Tuesday, surpassing previous electoral participation records. The Waterbury Roundabout reported that the overwhelming support marks a sharp reversal from a year prior, when district voters rejected a much larger $149 million proposal for a standalone 167,000-square-foot facility in a remote corner of Barre Town.

A Shift in Cost and Location

The revised proposal addresses the two primary criticisms that doomed the previous iteration: cost and geographic accessibility. Instead of building an entirely new standalone campus, the newly approved $54.9 million plan scales down the footprint to 61,000 square feet. The project places the new building directly across the parking lot from U-32, while retaining half of the career center’s programs at Spaulding High School in Barre. This dual-location model aligns directly with the state’s vision of creating regional high schools.

Graduation at spaulding high school john gisis

Barre Town Clerk Tina Lunt, who oversaw the complex tabulation process involving commingled paper ballots from 18 towns, noted the efficiency of the local election infrastructure. Commingled ballots from Barre, Barre Town, Montpelier, and Waterbury were processed through four local tabulators before final hand-counting at East Montpelier Elementary School. By the time the final ballots from Duxbury arrived on Thursday, total turnout had climbed to 16,535, smashing the previous record of 14,115 set on Town Meeting Day 2024, when the district’s annual budget vote coincided with the presidential primary.

Next Steps Toward a 2030 Opening

With the bond successfully secured, Emerson outlined the immediate operational priorities for the district. Finalizing the official lease agreement with Washington Central stands as the next immediate milestone. District leadership plans to use the intervening months to lay groundwork for construction starting in 2028. If all goes well, the expanded facility aims to officially open its doors to students by the start of the 2030 school year.