Budget Amendment ID: FY2025-S4-755-R1

Redraft EDU 755

Establishing a special commission to study the implementation of vocational education annexes in gateway cities

Messrs. Cronin, Lewis, Payano, Collins and Pacheco moved that the proposed new text be amended in section 2, by inserting after section 106 the following section:-

SECTION 106A. (a) There shall be a special commission to study the implementation of vocational education annexes in gateway municipalities as defined in section 3A of chapter 23A of the General Laws. The commission shall investigate: (i) the cost of constructing 3,000 to 5,000 square feet of vocational annex classrooms at comprehensive high schools; (ii) methods to sustainably fund and staff regionally aligned vocational programming in the building trades for juniors and seniors at comprehensive high schools; and (iii) estimated costs and current funding streams to finance potential projects.

(b) The commission shall consist of: the chairs of the joint committee on education; 1 member appointed by the senate president who shall serve as co-chair; 1 member appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives who shall serve as co-chair; 1 member appointed by the minority leader of the senate; 1 member appointed by the minority leader of the house of representatives; the secretary of education or a designee; the commissioner of elementary and secondary education or a designee; the executive director of the Massachusetts School Building Authority or a designee; 3 members to be appointed by the governor, 1 of whom shall be a representative of a gateway municipality with knowledge of municipal finance and 1 of whom shall be an individual with demonstrated expertise in the design and construction of cost-effective school buildings; the executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, Inc.; the president of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, Inc.; the president of the Massachusetts Association of Vocational Administrators, Inc.; the president of the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Institute of Architects; the executive director of the Massachusetts Facilities Administrators Association; the president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association; the president of the American Federation of Teachers, Massachusetts; the president of the Home Builders Institute; the president of the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education; the executive director of the Vocational Education Justice Coalition within the Massachusetts Community Action Network; and the president of the Massachusetts Building Trades Council.

(c) The commission shall file a report of its findings and its recommendations for proposed legislation, if any, by filing the same with the clerks of the senate and house of representatives and the joint committee on education not later than March 1, 2025.