Island-wide vote chosen for school building project

Following a contentious discussion on Monday evening, the high school committee decided to forgo town meetings and proceed with an Island-wide vote to fund the renovation and addition for the estimated $334 million regional high school project. 

Despite opposition from town officials and the school superintendent, the committee voted 7 to 1 against traditional town meetings, citing fear that a single town could sink the project.

“This is a regional school district,” committee member Amy Houghton said. “We need to be able to support the school and move the project forward.” 

The Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School committee previously pushed the vote from early October; members said they’ve since spoken with town officials, residents of all six towns, and each other before deciding. 

The high school renovation and addition is likely the largest regional project the Island has undertaken. The funding request, while a dollar amount is still not final, is expected to go before voters this spring. Whether a town-by-town or an Island-wide vote was described by some as one of the most important decisions for the project going forward. Some community members have voiced fears that introducing a new voting system (as is allowed through Massachusetts General Law Chapter 71, Section 16) and bypassing town meetings would turn residents against the building project.

On Monday, the school committee weighed the two options. 

One was the traditional town meeting approach, where all six towns vote individually. If one town were to vote the project down, the committee would have to return to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA), the funding mechanism that’s offering a roughly 30 percent reimbursement for the cost of the project. There are no guarantees that the MSBA will continue as the agent of reimbursement if the project is initially voted down in this fashion. 

The second option, and the path chosen by the committee, is an Island-wide vote, where residents show up to their respective polling locations, are handed a ballot, and vote “yes” or “no” on funding the project, majority rules.

Houghton was supportive of this option. “There’s no removing the community’s input,” she assured the room. 

Houghton said she’s spoken to Tisbury residents who preferred the Island-wide option after they saw the Tisbury School building project lose about $30 million in MSBA reimbursement funding of their own because of a mere 21 dissenting voters in 2018. 

“I understand that there’s a lot of trepidation and concern. But I see confidence in our ability to take this vote tonight,” committee member Robert Lionette said to the room of about a dozen people, from local town officials to fellow school committee members. He said they’ve evolved as a group, and have all thoroughly thought about the decision. “Because of that, I am fully supportive of one, Island-wide vote,” he continued.

On Monday, only committee chair Skipper Manter voted against the process. He said that he believed in the traditional structure of town meetings and was concerned about fallout if a different option was chosen. 

“I think, in small town government, there’s nothing more important than town meetings … Everybody gets a fair opportunity to express their views,” Manter said. 

There was considerable opposition to an Island-wide vote outside of the committee on Monday as well, many of whom shared Manter’s view. 

“I think we need to work within the confines of what we’ve done — in a traditional manner,” said Richie Smith, the superintendent of all public schools.  

He urged the committee to focus on educating the public about the necessity of the project and ensure votes in favor that way, rather than choosing a different voting system. 

Dion Alley, Oak Bluffs Select Board member and the chair of the school building committee, had a similar take. 

“I would strongly urge you to follow the path we’ve been on,” Alley said. “I think you need to put your trust in the community, and I think the community — nine out of ten times — will do the right thing.”

Chilmark Select Board Chair Marie Larsen attended the meeting and showed her support for a town meeting vote. 

“Doing the nuclear option right off the bat is just not a good thing in my opinion,” Larsen said. “We need to get the Island behind this, and this [choosing the Island-wide vote] is the opposite of that.” 

Rachel Orr, who is on both finance and climate committees in the town of Tisbury, said she continues to be concerned about the funding formula in the face of an Island-wide vote. If towns are paying different rates, she said she questions the fairness of a regional vote. Tisbury residents and town officials have been speaking out for months about the funding formula, where the residents of the town are slated to pay more than some others. 

School committee members have pointed out the regional agreement and funding formula that was voted on a few years ago, where Tisbury officials approved the system in place. But the fact remains: Tisbury residents remain burdened by multiple capital projects and are fearful of adding another to the mix. 

“I had three children go through the school. I’m very grateful for the facility and I love that it’s an Island-wide institution … [But] there are real winners and losers here,” Orr added. 

School committee member Kathryn Shertzer said she’s been back-and-forth about which way to vote for a while.

“I have struggled with this for months,” Shertzer said. “There are no guarantees about this project … I really hope this project moves forward regardless of the way it’s voted.” 

Shertzer cited the Tisbury School project, where MSBA funding didn’t come through, and residents paid far higher amounts in taxes than was originally planned. 

“I can’t fathom our Island making repeated mistakes,” Shertzer said, before eventually voting “ay” for the Island-wide vote.