Greater Lawrence Technical School

Thank you.

Let's see, we'll move on to item B, which is a request from John Lavoie for the vote to change the purpose for a bond for Greater Lawrence Technical School.

Good evening, Madam Chairman and members of the Board.

Thank you for allowing me to speak to you with this request.

Thank you so much.

I'll take a motion.

I'll move that this select board approve the request of the Greater Lawrence Technical School District to amend the purpose of the previously authorized $4 million bond initially approved for the acquisition of the Alex Lodge property located at 652 Andover Street, Lawrence, Massachusetts, so that said funds may instead be used for the design, construction, furnishing, and equipping of an addition to the district's existing facility located at 57 River Road in Andover, Mass.

Said amendment to be consistent with the intent of the original authorization which was to expand the district's medical and health related educational programs and further that this amendment shall not increase the total amount of borrowing previously approved.

But when we work with the vocational schools, there's that gap between the students and the instructors that are in the school and the businesses that have a need for hiring.

And so honestly, I was having a conversation with the workforce development lead at Greater Lawrence Technical School last night, and it's as if she is literally trying to bridge that gap herself by bringing the employers a little bit closer who they are willing to hire and how much they are willing to invest in new entry-level carpenters or HVAC installers or what have you.

And how do we get the students or the adult workforce learners who are also entry-level but a decade more mature, we hope.

How do we, again, help them get as close to what the employers really need? But that's a big gap.