NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — McCann Technical School wants to use a necessary renovation as a teachable moment for its students.

 

The Northern Berkshire Vocational Regional School Committee on Tuesday authorized spending up to $300,000 to address 172 items that need to be addressed to make the school compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

 

The corrections, which include thresholds without the proper clearance, updated signage and door closers that shut doors too quickly, came up in an audit related to the school's application for assistance under the Massachusetts School Building Authority's accelerated repair program.

 

Rather than hiring a contractor to make the changes to the school, Superintendent James Brosnan has asked the MSBA to accept a plan that would have McCann Tech students make the corrections.

 

On Tuesday, he asked the School Committee to OK the $300,000 budget for materials which, Brosnan said, will likely be more than is needed to do the work.

 

In answer to a question from the committee, Brosnan said it is the first time that the state building authority has had a request to let students take on such a project as part of a state-mandated ADA compliance order.

 

But he and the board members were excited to have the chance to break some new ground.

 

"That's what we do for a living," Brosnan said. "This is our laboratory. We don't want to be denied that opportunity."

 

Under state law, work on a public building that exceeds 30 percent of its assessed value and costs more than $100,000 triggers a full ADA review of the facility.

 

Last year, McCann Tech was invited by the MSBA to participate in the accelerated repair program to address its 30-year-old roof and 60-year-old single-pane windows.

 

Brosnan noted that the school already knew of some ADA issues that are under contract: the installation of more ADA compliant restroom facilities and new water fountains.

 

The corrections addressed in Tuesday's $300,000 expenditure are small-scale in comparison but add up with more than 170 items on the punch list.

 

"One of the items — the bench has to go," Brosnan said, eliciting chuckles from members of the committee. "The original bench, I know nobody in this room ever sat on, the discipline bench by the front door."

 

The low bench in the lobby of the school was, at one time, in the line of sight of the door into the principal's office; that door has since been relocated to a wall that does not face the bench, Brosnan said. Students who were sent to the principal's office used to have to wait on the comically low bench that is permanently attached to the floor.

 

Removing the vestigial bench will require students to patch the marble tile underneath.

 

That is the kind of real world application of skills that Brosnan hopes the vocational school will be able to provide students throughout the building.

 

It is a model that McCann has employed before.

 

"There are sidewalks we've done outside … and we bump into [graduates] all the time who say, 'I did that,' " Brosnan said. 

 

"It's a valuable lesson, and that's the passion we have. … Students will say, 'What's the solution? OK, let's implement the solution.' Then it can be on their resume, which, to an employer, says, 'I've got a person who is going to be cognizant of ADA compliance issues in a construction project.' So it's a really good challenge."

 

Brosnan told the committee that he will inform the MSBA of the panel's $300,000 commitment to the corrective measures and hope the authority accepts the whole plan, including the hands-on experience for students.

 

The changes would have to be made on the building by the conclusion of the window/roof project, which the district hopes to complete by October 2026, Brosnan said.