FRENCHVILLE, Maine – Voters in Frenchville and St. Agatha will have a question on their local ballot this November asking if they will accept $230,343 for upgrades and improvements for equipment and programs at the St. John Valley Technical Center. The money will be paid by the state of Maine, and will have no impact on the local taxes in these communities.
Benjamin Sirois, Superintendent and Executive Director for the Valley Unified Regional Service Center, said that since the money will come via the Maine Bond Bank, it requires a budget referendum under state law.
Kevin Lavoie, Director of the St. John Valley Technology Center, said the total bond is $20 million. Eleven CTE centers altogether applied for and received approval for some of this money.
He said he wrote a grant for $409,000 and the school was partially approved for $230,343.
“In any sense of the word, that is still a good piece of change,” Lavoie said.
Towns in each of the 11 CTE areas will have a similar funding question on their local referendum. Caribou’s CTE center, for example, is up for $1.6 million worth of equipment upgrades.
Lavoie said the money will be used to upgrade welders, which are nearly 20 years old.
“That way, when students work on equipment or in a weld, they’re welding with state of the art equipment that’s in the field,” he said.
This will also help them in receiving their AWS (American Welding Society) certification, as it includes testing with newer welders.
The money will also fund the acquisition of a used 18-wheeler truck, and about $36,000 worth of diesel diagnostic tools.
“My diesel program is two years in its infancy,” Lavoie said. “So I have some diagnostic tools, but I don’t have everything I need.”
And with the school now having a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) program, he said it is crucial for the school to have larger diagnostic tools for this equipment.
Out of the $20 million available, Lavoie said that only $8 million was actually allocated and approved. If the remaining $12 million becomes available next year, he said he will apply to at least receive two new 18-wheelers for the CDL program. He said Caribou did this, and received the trucks.
“There’s no guarantee that they’re going to take the $12 million and roll it over to do a new bond application,” he said. “However, if they are, you better believe I’ll be applying for it.”
The tech center serves about 122 high schoolers, including students from sending schools in Madawaska and Fort Kent.
