CARIBOU, Maine – A bond referendum in the November election will determine if Caribou Technology Center receives $1.6 million to upgrade and purchase new equipment for in-demand programs.
This year, Caribou’s center, located adjacent to Caribou High School, became one of 11 Maine career and technical education, or CTE, centers to get preliminary approval for a portion of a $20 million state bond. The bond comes from federal COVID relief monies that the Legislature voted to allocate toward CTE centers through a grant program.
As part of the program, all of Maine’s 27 centers had the opportunity to apply for funding based on their CTE program needs and how new equipment would help students learn skills that meet industry workplace standards.
After meeting with instructors, students, parents, industry experts and post-secondary education leaders, Caribou Tech Center opted to focus on eight of its 15 programs: welding and fabrication, automotive technology, agriculture, commercial driver’s license, large equipment, outdoor education, fire science and criminal justice.
The proposed $1,630,279 total would pay for a variety of equipment and related infrastructure upgrades; including new tools and equipment for welding students, outdoor education tents, kayaks and canoes; a hands-free tire changer for automotive repairs and modern trucks and trailers for commercial driver’s license, or CDL, trainees.
Some larger purchases would include a fire truck for the fire science program, valued at $250,000; a police cruiser for criminal justice students, $77,500; a potato truck for the agriculture program, $50,000; and a compact track loader for large equipment, $110,000, all of which the programs currently do not have but would enhance student training, said Caribou Tech Center Director Amy White.
“We want to make sure that what we’re teaching our students is current and based on trends within the workforce,” White said. “For example, our CDL program is always full and very popular. We know there’s a demand for truck drivers, [so] it wouldn’t make sense for students to drive a 20-year-old truck.”
Since the Legislature enacted the $20 million funding through a bond, that means local voters must decide on their CTE centers’ proposals in ballot referendums during the Nov. 5 elections.
Other Maine regional career and technical centers chosen for the ballot referendum process include those in Presque Isle, Frenchville, Bangor, Biddeford, Dexter, Ellsworth, Lewiston, Machias, Mexico and Norway.
Caribou Tech Center is part of Regional School Unit 39, which serves Caribou and Stockholm, so voters in those towns will decide on the $1.6 million proposal. If approved, the center’s equipment purchases would not increase RSU 39’s fiscal year budget or be raised through additional property taxes, White said.
The Maine Department of Education funds CTE centers separate from school districts’ budgets, based on the 3-year enrollment averages for each center’s programs. That means even the Caribou center’s yearly budget never influences the local education part of Caribou and Stockholm’s mill rates, White said.
Caribou Tech Center’s budget typically pays for White’s position, a guidance counselor, a secretary, equipment and supplies and maintaining safety standards. Instructors are full time only if their program maintains a 3-year enrollment average of 13 or more students.
Some instructors can be funded at full time if they teach for two programs that both have less than 13 students and are taught only half the day, like fire science and emergency medical technician training.
Currently, the most in-demand programs include CDL, capped at 16 students; agriculture, 24 students; and welding and fabrication, 24 students.
“We have a very specific budget and we stay within it,” White said. “So it doesn’t make sense to ever cut CTE programs because if you do, you simply lose the funding that comes with the program.”
Without approval from local voters, the likelihood that Caribou Tech Center receives the $1.6 million from the state’s bond could greatly decrease, White said, because local reception will play a role in the state’s final decision.
The center would eventually make those purchases without the bond but not as quickly due to regular budget constraints. It’s crucial that students be trained with the most updated equipment sooner to serve future workforce needs and enhance their own safety, White said.
For example, a new drone sprayer would allow students to spray pesticides onto the potato crops they grow in Caribou for the Penobscot-McCrum processing plant without the risk of being exposed to the chemicals. Local farmers are also beginning to use drones more.
In the automotive technology shop, instructor Michael McLaughlin would want to replace the current manual tire changer with one that is “semi-autonomous,” meaning that students would change tires hands free, reducing the risk of back injuries. The estimated cost is $41,206.
A simulator machine, valued at $331,091, would allow students to practice repairs that don’t always arise in vehicles that people bring into the shop, such as HVAC, electrical and transmission systems. That would help students be more qualified for jobs right after high school, McLaughlin said.
RSU 39 will hold a public hearing at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 2 at the Caribou Performing Arts Center, 308 Sweden St., to hear community members’ questions and comments on the ballot referendum.
