DALTON, Mass. — With just more than 51 percent of the vote, the Wahconah Regional High School building project was approved by the voters of the Central Regional Berkshire School District on Saturday.
Superintendent Laurie Casna reported Saturday evening that 1,785 of the 3,483 voters districtwide (51.2 percent) voted in favor of the $72 million project.
"We are very pleased to share that the vote for a new Wahconah Regional High School anticipated to open in the fall of 2021 passed today," Casna wrote in an email to the media.
The turnout of 3,483 voters in district's seven towns was just fewer than twice the number (1,761) who turned out for an April 2017 vote to approve the $850,000 feasibility study that laid the groundwork for the new Wahconah.
On Saturday, 1,748 voters turned out in Dalton alone.
The district's largest town voted in favor of the project by a margin of 1,011-737 — 57.8 percent in favor.
The question passed in just three of the district's seven communities, though.
It was swamped in Cummington, which voted no by a margin of 194-45 (18.8 percent in favor).
The question also failed in Hinsdale, the district's second largest town, by a margin of 334-246 (42.3 percent positive). Peru (162-102, 38.6 percent positive) and Windsor (139-93, 40.1 percent positive) also voted against the project.
In addition to Dalton, the towns of Becket and Washington voted in favor of the project by sizable margins. In Becket, 176 of 253 voters (69.6 percent) voted yes. In Washington, the margin was 112-54 (67.5 percent yes).
Saturday's vote means that CBRSD will move forward with a process proscribed by the Massachusetts School Building Authority, which is participating in the cost of the new high school.
The district's School Building Committee has estimated that the state authority will contribute about $31 million toward the project.
While Saturday's vote on the building project saw a turnout significantly higher than the last school-only related election in April, 2017, turnout still lagged rates seen in the federal election cycle last November.
In November 2018, 2,936 Dalton voters turned out versus the 1,748 on Saturday. Districtwide, the seven towns saw 6,336 voters turn out last fall, 81 percent more than Saturday's ballots cast.
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.
Your Comments
iBerkshires.com welcomes critical, respectful dialogue. Name-calling, personal attacks, libel, slander or foul language is not allowed. All comments are reviewed before posting and will be deleted or edited as necessary.
No Comments
Summer Lacrosse Camp Offered in Dalton
Community submission
DALTON, Mass. -- Wahconah Regional High School boys lacrosse coach Matt Fisher is hosting a an Elite Camp for kids in grades 5 through 12 in August.
The camp will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Wahconah from Aug. 4 through 8.
Instructors at the camp will include Ryan Lanigan, an assistant coach at Division I Siena College.
The cost is $140.
For information, contact Fisher at mfisher@daltoncra.org.
Prior's graduation from the academy is anticipated for mid-December, followed by a few months of field training before he can work independently, likely by February click for more
Pittsfield's Reed crushed the first pitch he saw over the left field fence for the first home run of his varsity career and chased Morrie Fried around the bases with the winning run in a 4-3 walkoff victory at Springfield Central. click for more
Carson Rylander was dominant Sunday as the Drury baseball team beat Mount Everett, 4-0, in the quarter-finals of the Division 5 State Tournament.
click for more
Mount Greylockâs girls got a first-place finish from their 4-by-800 relay team to secure a nearly five-point margin of victory over runner-up Hamilton-Wenham in the team competition. click for more
Adan Wicks scored four goals, and Brady Auger had a hat trick Wednesday to lead the Hurricanes to a 12-6 win over McCann Tech in the Western Massachusetts Class C Championship Game on Gene Dellea Field at BCC. click for more