The St. Lawrence-Lewis Board of Cooperative Educational Services, will hold a special board meeting on Thursday, October 18, 2018 at the St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES Educational Services Center, 40 West Main Street, Canton, NY, beginning at 3:00 pm.

Voters Approve St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES Capital Project

—Construction on the three career and technical education buildings expected to begin in 2020—

On October 9, 2018, voters approved the St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES capital project 992 to 141 in a public referendum. Voting was held from 12PM to 8PM at each career and technical education (CTE) center location, as well as the educational services center in Canton. 1,133 votes were cast, including absentee ballots.

The approved proposal totals $43.5 M. Work at Seaway Career and Technical Education Center in Norwood totals $18.3 M. The renovations at Southwest Career and Technical Education Center in Fowler will cost $9.76 M. At Northwest Career and Technical Education Center in Ogdensburg, the work will cost $15.5M.

The approved project proposal will update infrastructure including plumbing, electrical systems and ventilation, and also add space at Seaway Tech to accommodate increasing enrollments. Seaway Tech has the largest enrollment of the three centers. 

The BOCES is working with architects from March Associates, who will begin the design phase of the project this week. The design phase is expected to take roughly 5 months. Designs must be submitted to the New York State Department of Education (NYSED) for approval.  NYSED review time is currently estimated at 38-40 weeks. Bids on the project from construction companies will open after NYSED grants its approval. Construction is anticipated to start in spring of 2020.

“The voting results speak for themselves,” said BOCES District Superintendent Thomas Burns. “Most people in the North Country have been touched in some way by CTE programming, whether it be a family member who graduated from one of the programs, or an employer who has hired one of our graduates. A majority of high school juniors and seniors in our area attend a CTE program every day and we owe it to them to provide a modern learning environment. We thank the voters for their support and look forward to beginning the renovation process.”

Alumni Spotlight

Our Career and Technical Education alumni go on to do great things. Below, read what Dorothy M. Davis PMC MSN RN has to say about her experience at Northwest Tech and how it shaped her career success. 

“ Northwest Tech offered me a tremendous opportunity, and I remain so grateful for it to this day. I graduated in 1994 and passed my state nursing boards, becoming a Licensed Practical Nurse, a few months later. While some of my classmates were off to college and others still deciding what they would do with their young lives, I was a licensed health care professional working as a charge nurse in the local nursing home at the age of eighteen. I eventually went on to obtain my associate's degree in nursing, followed by a Bachelor’s degree, a Master’s degree, and then a Post-Master’s certificate in nursing leadership and management.”