The Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School (MVRHS) Committee plans to borrow $20.06 million for the design and development phase of the high school building project.
During a committee meeting Monday night, Lynne Welsh, financial advisor for the school district, said that the school is currently on track to secure the $22 million needed for this initial phase.
To partially finance the design and development phase of the project, MVRHS is borrowing several short-term loans over the next few years. UniBank, financial advisory firm for Martha’s Vineyard Public Schools (MVYPS), is organizing a competitive bidding process to find the bank with the lowest interest rates. The bidding will close on Sept. 24.
“Going back to our original financing plan, I can tell you it’s pretty much on schedule [with] what we had predicted,” Welsh said.
The school began taking on short-term loans last month with a $1.39 million loan from UniBank for Savings. Mark Friedman, MVYPS school business administrator, told The Times that the school will progress to long-term loans in the future.
After bids close, the school committee plans to approve the winning bidder at a special meeting on Sept. 29.
To complete the process, an acting treasurer will be appointed at the start of the special meeting to fill the space of Marylee Schroeder, treasurer for MVRHS and the Up-Island Regional School District, who will be absent for the Sept. 29 meeting. Under Massachusetts Department of Revenue regulations, a treasurer is required to sign certain documents as part of the process for borrowing money publicly.
Additionally at Monday’s meeting, Justine DeOliveira, MVRHS assistant principal, announced a three-day visit by officials from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) as part of maintaining the school’s accreditation. During a self-assessment facilitated by NEASC in 2024, the association deemed the school building as below-standard due to mold, asbestos, and small classroom sizes. This classification, however, doesn’t jeopardize the school’s accreditation.
The committee also agreed to meet twice a month during October and November in place of the numerous sub-committee meetings planned in the fall.
Committee chair Jeffrey (“Skipper”) Manter argued that having two full committee meetings, an evening meeting at the start of the month and a morning meeting at the end, is a more time-efficient alternative.
“I believe in this way, you’d be making decisions faster and very long-form because you’re getting all the information from the get-go,” Manter said. “It’s watered down doing it the way we’re doing.”
A topic that wasn’t discussed at the meeting was an incident involving an MVRHS student who sent a photo of a handgun to another student during a home football game on Friday.
The school committee will next meet in regular session on Oct. 5.
