Westborough’s Borough program highlights vocational gains, seeks out‑of‑district tuition and corporate support

Erin LePrad and Sherry Stevens updated the Westborough School Committee on the Borough transition program and the Sugar Shack vocational enterprise, reporting rising sales, expanded production space and work to attract out‑of‑district tuition students.

The program, which serves young adults in transition from school to adulthood, reported fiscal 2024 sales of $123,855 — a 13% increase over fiscal 2023 — and net profit of $27,600 (about a 23.8% margin). “This past year has been another impactful year marked by growth, innovation and deeper community connections,” Erin LePrad said. LePrad told the committee the program’s on‑site vocational lab, the Sugar Shack, packaged thousands of confections during the holiday season, including “over 4,600 truffles” in roughly 10 days and “72 pounds of fudge in just 1 day.”

Nut graf: The presentation underscored two program priorities: expand capacity to accept tuition‑in students from other districts and strengthen corporate and community partnerships to sustain the enterprise and the student transition work.

Program structure…