Supporters of a new Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School are continuing in their effort to secure support from local governments and residents in constructing the $293 million dollar school. Fall River has yet to weigh in on whether it plans to lend its support to the project.
Even though the school is receiving $145 million dollars in state funding for the new school, it will still need over $190 million dollars from Fall River to pay for its share of construction. Mayor Paul Coogan says that is a big bill for taxpayers and he is considering seeking their input.
If an extension is approved by the Diman School Committee, it will have until July 15 to seek support from Fall River, Somerset, Swansea and Westport to move the project forward. Westport and Swansea have already signaled their support for the new school. Somerset will ask town meeting to vote on whether to disapprove the project sometime this spring.
If one community chooses not to approve the new school, the school committee may choose to hold a region-wide vote of residents in an attempt to move forward.
If the project is approved, each community will need to decide how it will fund its portion of construction. In 2018 voters in Fall River voted in favor of a debt exclusion to raise taxes to help with the cost of the new BMC Durfee High School. Taxpayers may begin seeing the impact of the debt exclusion during FY 2023. The city may need to seek another debt exclusion to help pay for its share of a new Diman.
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