By Scott Calzolaio

With a new high school building on the horizon, Milford officials are looking to reimplement vocational education, and bring the trades back to MHS halls.

The High School Building Committee (HSBC) met with the Finance Committee on Sept. 10 in an effort to begin the discussion in earnest.

“We’re planning to build a ‘comprehensive’ high school, which means we’re bringing back the trades that left here in the early ‘70s,” said HSBC Chair Jonathan Bruce. “Say a student can’t get into Blackstone Valley Tech., and wants to be a plumber, now that’s a pathway forward.”

In 2024, Massachusetts amended its education laws to permit municipal high schools to offer Chapter 74 vocational programs. The insufficient capacity at Blackstone Valley Technical Vocational High School (BVT), paired with the labor market demand, makes Milford a prime candidate to take advantage of this amended bill, Bruce said.

For decades, Milford has seen a large number of students be rejected from BVT because it serves many surrounding communities and can only accept around 350 students each year, said Superintendent of Schools Craig Consigli.

At the Sept. 10 meeting, Consigli listed application and enrollment numbers from Milford to BVT in the last few years to point out the discrepancy. From 2021 to 2024, there were 425 Milford applicants to BVT. From that pool, 158 students were accepted which left 267 Milford students unable to access the education they were looking for out of high school.

“That doesn’t count the kids that don’t think they stand a chance, so they don’t even apply,” said Consigli.

Bruce followed the sentiment. Keeping with the plumber analogy, he explained that currently if a student is not accepted into BVT, they would first need to receive their high school diploma in order to become a plumber anyway. Additionally, they would need to find time for an apprenticeship, as well as attend night school classes, in order to earn the credentials necessary for the trade.

“From a societal perspective, it’s a terrible disservice,” Bruce said.

Currently, there are no reliable financial figures to report, but Bruce said their timeline should have more information by summer 2026, and schematics by spring 2027. His estimated timeline has the plan going up for vote at Town Meeting by late 2027.

Photo credit: Theresa Knapp

The application to build a new high school was accepted by the Massachusetts School Building Association (MSBA) last year, and includes moving 8th grade to the high school as well. The MSBA has a tight deadline process that needs to be followed, but Bruce is optimistic about the future of Milford’s education.

He said about the long process, “It seems like you’re being handcuffed by the MSBA, but they get it right. They really, really know what they’re doing here.”