NORTHAMPTON — The same week in May 2022 that fire destroyed the forestry education building at Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School, a portion of a roof blew off from another building on campus.
That structure, known as Building D, houses some of the school’s core vocational programs, like carpentry, cabinetry, electrical and mechanical, as well as classrooms. Constructed in the 1950s, Smith Vocational officials say upgrading the building, along with making other capital improvements on the Locust Street campus, is important for the school’s future.
But as the only independent vocational school in Massachusetts, all of the capital costs associated with building work have to be paid either by the school or by city of Northampton, even though only about 20% of the students enrolled live in Northampton, and the city has set a $150,000 cap on such expenditures.
That’s a key reason school leaders last fall brought on the Massachusetts Association of Regional Schools, a consulting group from Barre, to begin looking at options and developing plans — including regionalization — for the future of the school and its aging infrastructure.
“How is it fair for the city of Northampton to cover all of the capital expenses?” asks Superintendent Andrew Linkenhoker “What is the answer to deal with that? That’s what we’re struggling with.”
The current Massachusetts School Building Authority funding formulas make it difficult to get reimbursements as an independent school, rather than a regional school or as part of the city schools, and the costs to Northampton going it alone would be significant.
While there has been conversation with legislators and consideration of capital assessments for communities that send students to the school, hiring the consultant allows for fact gathering and determining if a regional agreement is even possible, Linkenhoker said.
“If there’s appetite from enough sending communities, they would enter into a regional study that follows an outline from the Department of Education,” Linkenhoker said.
Such a regional study, he said, can take several years before there is a vote in each community.
Regionalizing option
As it stands, the school collects an out-of-district, non-resident tuition, set by the state, for the students who come from 63 communities outside Northampton. Those cities and towns are also responsible for transportation costs for their students.
Should regionalization be the chosen avenue, the way of assessing costs would change, and those communities also would have to absorb capital expenditures.
Linkenhoker said one benefit for cities and towns that are part of a regional vocational school would be a more stable forecast of their costs, likely with a set number of slots set aside each year.
Second, each community would have a say in the development of Smith Vocational’s budget and its policies. “Currently, they don’t have any voice at the local level,” he said.
Northampton voters elect three trustees, with the Northampton public schools superintendent and city mayor serving as ex-officio members.
Hatfield approached
Like the other communities in western Massachusetts who send children to Smith Vocational, the town of Hatfield pays out-of-district tuition for the education of those students.
The Hatfield Select Board on Tuesday was given an overview of the situation by George Frost, a representative of the Massachusetts Association of Regional Schools. Frost cited the challenges of Building D.
“The building is really in difficult condition right now, and that’s one of the issues Smith is looking at as they move forward,” Frost said.
Should cities and towns agree to pursue regionalization, or some other option, that would set the stage for applying for an MSBA construction grant.
“It’s a process that would be time-consuming, but it would, if reaching regional status, they could submit a statement of interest to build a new building D,” Frost said.
Hatfield Select Board Chairman Ed Jaworski said it would be up to the town whether to pursue participating in the regionalization study.
Board member Luke Longstreeth said he didn’t think it would be likely for the town to enter into an agreement on such a study unless the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education pays for some or all of the study.
The board also had questions about whether regionalizing would end up costing Hatfield more money.
Town Administrator Andrew Levine said such an agreement would likely affect capital costs, which Hatfield would have to take on with other regional partners, but the town would also get a role in governance of the school, a role it doesn’t currently have.
Smith Vocational trustees initially received a presentation in May 2025 from Jay Barry, who is also part of the consulting group, after research was done by Linkenhoker and the school’s strategic planning subcommittee.
Barry outlined a roadmap to become a regional technical school, explaining that it’s a difficult process, with towns forming their own regionalization committees and then, should they wish to proceed beyond that, a single regional school planning district board.
In July, trustees voted to fund a feasibility study to explore all possible options to address this challenge, finalizing that contract last fall.
The model for creating a regional vocational school, if that is pursued, could be the Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School in Danvers, which opened in 2014 and serves 17 member communities. There, each town has one representative, and a population-weighted vote, on its school committee.
Linkenhoker said he anticipates the final consulting group report to be delivered and presented this spring.
“The goal would be for MARS to finish these community meetings and give a final report to trustees in the next couple of months,” Linkenhoker said.