Editors, Vineyard Gazette;

We are writing to urge the community to support two warrant articles that will be voted on at our upcoming annual town meetings this spring. We urge you to vote at town meeting to approve the revised regional high school agreement, and vote to authorize the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School school committee to borrow $2 million for a feasibility study for a building project at the high school.

The passage of these two articles is a pivotal and sequential next step in the Massachusetts School Building Authority’ (MSBA) program. After seven years of applying, on March 2, 2022 the high school was accepted into the MSBA’s grant program and is now poised to receive reimbursement through the MSBA program of 38 per cent of the cost of renovating and upgrading our 64-year-old high school facility calculated on a cost per square foot basis.

Why is this important?

The regional agreement has not been substantively updated since it was first created in 1954 and much of the language is outdated and needs to be corrected in order to make it comply with current Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education standards. Many hours of hard work by selectpersons and officials from your town have been spent crafting the capital assessment formula for this one building project that is part of the revised regional agreement. The new funding formula they created is based on fairness and equity with the revised percentages for each town based on 70 per cent student population and 30 per cent equalized property valuations.

The revised percentages would remain fixed for the life of the building project. The mobilization of all six towns to hammer out this revised capital formula is an important indication that our Island leadership is invested in this project’s success.

Why now?

The $2 million cost for the feasibility study is reimbursable by the MSBA, but only if the community acts now to move the project forward.

The window to obtain and use MSBA funds is limited in time and the opportunity will be withdrawn by the MSBA if we postpone the project. This gives us no better opportunity than now to move forward as a community on a design for a building project.

Both town meeting warrant articles need to pass in order for the high school to continue on in the MSBA program and receive the MSBA funds.

Please remember to show your support for the revised regional agreement and for funding a $2 million feasibility study for a building project at the regional high school by voting at Ttwn meeting to approve these two measures.

Members of the MVRHS School Building Committee: Dion Alley, Oak Bluffs; Matt Coffey, West Tisbury; Warren Doty, Chilmark; Luciana Fuller, Oak Bluffs; Emma Green-Beach, Oak Bluffs; Amira Madison, Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head, Aquinnah; James Mahoney, Aquinnah; Terry Meinelt, Chilmark; Tracy Overbeck-Stead, Vineyard Haven; Sally Rizzo, Vineyard Haven; Grace Robison, Oak Bluffs; Art Smadbeck, Edgartown.