On Oct. 6, I will not vote to support the huge new technical school as proposed in Turners Falls.
I’m troubled that neither the Greenfield mayor nor the City Council have given taxpayers any guidance at all on this $56 million in added debt financing burden that our property owners will be paying for over the next 34 years.
A building the size of five acres? How much will tuition rise to pay the costs of heating and maintaining this giant school and paying its staff — while other public schools are consolidating and cutting staff? Will our declining population need this much building capacity and carrying costs?
I went through Greenfield High School’s vocational school, but this project seems wrong in scale and price, and our leadership has left us clueless about the feasibility of this long-term financial commitment.
I urge voters in the 19 towns to say “no” and give everyone a chance to get on the same page to come up with a more reasonable — and affordable — option.
Al Collins
Greenfield