CANTON — A tentative public vote date of Oct. 9 has been set for an estimated $43.5 million upgrade at three St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES centers.

The facilities are located in Norwood, Ogdensburg and Fowler. Upgrades would run about $18.3 million in Norwood, $15.5 in Ogdensburg and the remaining $9.76 in Fowler. The actual estimated cost is $43,492,926, according to a release from BOCES.

There
will be polls for the vote at the BOCES administration building in Canton and at each of the three tech centers.

BOCES needs three separate centers because St. Lawrence County is such a large county with schools spread out over 2,600 square miles making transportation a major hurdle. More than 1,000 students from 18 districts (all 17 St. Lawrence County schools and Harrisville Central of Lewis County) attended BOCES programing in 2017-18.

Steady high enrollment in BOCES programs led to a lack of adequate lab and classroom space, the release said. Workshops and classrooms offer limited technological capabilities, poor ventilation, and not enough natural light.

The project would address basic infrastructure systems such as plumbing, electrical wiring, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, drainage, doors, windows, bathrooms and potable water.

Additional space will be added to accommodate growing programs, as well as programs which are now displaced in outbuildings or off-campus.

The renovations will also produce more natural light in classrooms and shops, add security features to building entrances, and create adjoining classrooms to shop spaces.

On average, each school district will get 70 percent of the costs back through BOCES aid reimbursements, a press release said.

The proposed capital project would add space to bring some off-campus programs back to the tech centers, and provide for separate classrooms which are currently lacking at all three centers.

Annual BOCES costs for each school district are Brasher Falls, $8,990.40; Canton, $23,259.67; Clifton-Fine, $26,214.77; Colton-Pierrepont, $33,125.83; Edwards-Knox, $9,511; Gouverneur, $22,491.03; Hammond, $17,110.77; Harrisville, $13,482.93; Hermon-Dekalb, $7,825.80; Heuvelton, $8,128.77; Lisbon, $9,341.17; Madrid-Waddington, $12,839.17; Massena, $38,416.57; Morristown, $16,055.27; Norwood-Norfolk, $11,600.57; Ogdensburg, $15,368.60; Parishville-Hopkinton, $15,609.77; Potsdam, $30,689.17 and St. Lawrence Central, $8,990.40.

BOCES programs include agricultural studies, allied health, automotive technology, building trades, cosmetology, criminal justice, culinary arts, education careers academy, education and human services, graphic communications, health careers, HVAC-R, metalworking technology, multi-occupations/CREATE, natural resource management and software development, and business design.

BOCES graduation rate stands at 94 percent.