Old Colony building vote is next week for Acushnet

By Beth David, Editor

The Acushnet Selectboard and Finance Committee held another joint meeting with representatives of Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School (OC) on 11/10/25 to get more information on the proposed new school building and its financial impact on Acushnet taxpayers. The meeting was the third and was requested by the FinCom.

FinCom chair, Mike Boucher, said  inaccurate information was being circulated on social media, so he wanted to be able to clarify some issues.

The five member communities of the district will vote on 11/18/25 on whether or not they will fund the $288,743,683 building project at the school. The Mass. School Building Asso­cia­tion is expected to reimburse the district $129,675,235, leaving $159,068,448 for the district members to pay. 

Acushnet’s share will be $55.4 million, but could go down to $40 million with added incentives and other savings such as MassSave and other programs. 

Other communities are: Carver, $26.2m; Lakeville, $39.6m; Matta­poisett, $8.8m; Rochester, $28.8m. 

The costs to repair the existing building are not much better: Acush­net, $46.8m; Carver, 22.1m; Lakeville, $33.5m; Mattapoisett, $7.4m; Roches­ter, $23.3m.

The projected tax impact for indi­vidual residents in Acushnet is $722 per year, based on an average single family home assessed at $471,732. 

The vote will be decided by a majority of the aggregated votes of all five communities, not by individual community votes. All communities will have to abide by the decision, whether or not their individual community supported it.

The new school will increase student population by more than 200 to 776. It will add three new programs: Plumbing, HVAC-R, and Dental Assisting.

The new building will be 270,000 square feet. The current building, built in 1975, is 104,395 sf.

At the 11/10 meeting, much of the discussion revolved around the pros and cons of building new vs. repairing the current build­ing. Repairing the current building will not be reim­bursed by the state.

The structure needs extensive plumbing work, electrical work, and needs to be brought up to American with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards.

The current building also does not have fire suppression (sprinklers). 

Repairing the current building also does not address space issues or allow the district to add new programs.

SB member Kevin Gaspar and Mr. Boucher, both pointed out, however, that repairs would not have to be done all at once. The district could schedule different repairs on different parts of the building for different years. That would allow the towns to fund their shares in smaller chunks instead of borrowing tens of millions of dollars for 20 years. 

The boards also discussed specific numbers of students enrolled now and predictions for future years. The town will be assessed its share of paying the bond based on enrollment. Right now, Acushnet has the largest share at 35%. Estimates for future enrollment are 160 to 200.

On 11/10, Mr. Boucher said the financial impact on the town’s budget is troublesome. He said they are likely looking at a Proposition 2 1/2 override. He noted that the town also faces increases in health insurance and pension costs. 

It puts too much on the backs of residents, said Mr. Boucher.

Mr. Gaspar said that if the district decided on repairs, the town would not necessarily have to go for an override. They could go for a debt exclusion for a smaller amount, around $4 million. 

Mr. Boucher noted that the schools are already 60% of the town’s’ budget.

“Our kids are nomads,” said SB member David Wojnar. “They don’t have a home.”

He said it might be time for Acushnet to talk about how the town approaches 9-12 educa­tion, and this project might be the catalyst. 

Acushnet students in high school attend Fairhaven HS or Old Colony. He said they are lucky to have them. But the contract with Fairhaven is up for renewal, and Acushnet has been looking at other high schools.

Parents with eighth-graders have been calling, he said, because they have no idea where their children will be going next year.

Board members also discussed the consequences of waiting, with rising costs every making the building even more expensive.

Aaron Polansky, Superintendent-Director at OC, said that OC is not just a place were kids get an education. It is a service based organization that gives back to each community. He listed a number of projects built by students in each member community.

He cautioned against putting Bandaids on a 50 year old building.

“Years from now I can’t even imaging what this will cost,” said Mr. Polansky.

Resident Rod Gomes said he was “staggered” when he saw the numbers. But he also said it would be fiscally irresponsible to renovate the existing building that was built to last 30 years and is now 50 years old. 

He also noted that building the new school allows the students to stay in the old building during construction. If they remodel, the students can’t use it.

“We have no other school to send them to,” he said.

Mr. Gaspar said he would not say which way the town will vote, and he said he would not tell people how to vote. It is up to the individual, based on what they can afford, he said.

Taxpayers can visit the tax calculator to see how much the project will cost them individually: https://oldcolonybuildingproject.com/tax-impact-calculator/

Polls will be open from noon to 8 p.m. this Tuesday, 11/18/25. All precincts vote at the Acushnet Elementary School, 800 Middle Road. If you have any questions about the status of your voter registration, call the Town Clerk’s office at 508-998-0215.

The 11/10/25 meeting is available at https://tinyurl.com/2z67dfu7. All other meetings are also available on the town’s YouTube channel: https://tinyurl.com/4ferxrz6

The presenta­tion is available online at https://oldcolonybuildingproject.com 

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