HANOVER – Folding chairs in the automotive shop create a makeshift classroom, a large lecture hall has been converted into an intimate library and the lunchroom is overwhelmed with students.

South Shore Regional Vocational Technical High School's waiting list has consistently been about 60 to 80 students long, and the electrical program has turned at least 15 students away annually for the last three years because of a lack of physical space.

"It's limiting our ability to give students the choice of education that they want," Superintendent Thomas J. Hickey said.

In March, the state School Building Authority, after rejecting South Shore Vo-Tech's application each year since 2015, invited the school to prove its eligibility. If the project is accepted, the School Building Authority would pay for part of the cost of renovations or replacement. Taxpayers from the member towns would pay the rest.

The high school draws students from Abington, Cohasset, Hanover, Hanson, Norwell, Rockland, Scituate and Whitman. It offers 12 vocational programs, including automotive, culinary arts and cosmetology.

While waiting for the invitation from the School Building Authority, Hickey, with assistance from the school committee, got creative with the school's spaces to accommodate students. 

"Our science laboratory space is essentially classrooms that we've converted into labs over the years, and those class sizes are pretty high," Hickey said. "We need a common space, we need to have our shops bigger and we also need more academic space." 

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The school was built in 1962. In 1978, the science wing was added and a large addition was built in 1992. The current enrollment is about 650 students.

The co-op program, in which students are employed by local businesses to gain real-life work experience, helps limit the number students on campus at any one time, but more space is still needed, Hickey said. 

"I would never want our lack of creativity to stand in the way of having to tell a kid, 'No, there's not enough space,'" Hickey said. "Unfortunately, we still can't meet that demand, but we've done the best we can."

In spring 2021, after consistent rejections from the School Building Authority, the school leadership took matters into their own hands. Hickey went to all eight towns to request a total of $10.5 million split between them in preparation to make improvements and create more space on their own. 

"Our towns unanimously said yes, which was a great vote of confidence that they believe in what we do and that repairs and some modest expansion were long overdue," Hickey said. 

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The School Building Authority's invitation paused those efforts and gives the district 270 days to establish a committee for the project. The school committee must also vote to set aside money for feasibility study costs. About $2 million has already been saved in the school's stabilization fund.

"(Getting invited into the program) took longer than we wanted, but I don't mind being in this position because we've got the funding that we need," Hickey said. 

The school must also give the School Building Authority details about what the programs will look like and what new programs could be added. School leaders are surveying the students to better understand what programs they want. Some examples include animal science, plumbing and early childhood education. Hickey said he hopes the required information will be sent to the School Building Authority in May or June.

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If the information is approved, the next step is hiring a project manager and an engineering firm to work on the design with the school building committee. Then the School Building Authority's approval would be needed. 

The chair of the school building committee, a representative of the engineering firm and Hickey would present the cost and construction plan for the project to the member towns, which would have to pay for the district's share of the project cost.

Hickey said he expects it would be at least four years before construction starts. 

"I don't mind any of it, I don't mind any hoop to jump through. To even be in this conversation is a thrill," he said.

"We intend to over-communicate with our eight towns until they're tired of hearing about it," Hickey said. "We're going to stay engaged with finance committees, boards of selectmen, K-12 school districts. We want people to know what we're thinking and we want them to feel a part of the process along the way."

He predicts the building plans would include adding a second floor.

Marshfield has approached the district about joining. Hickey said he is excited about the prospect and it would share the cost of the renovation with the other eight towns. 

Hickey said South Shore Vo-Tech has no outstanding debts and a debt authorization for $10.5 million, which he said he does not expect to use. 

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Reach Alyssa Fell at afell@patriotledger.com.