CLAREMONT — The Sugar River Valley Technical Center is taking over the licensed nursing assistant program from the technical center in Newport, Claremont Superintendent Timothy Broadrick announced Tuesday.
Broadrick said in a Sept. 4 letter to Robert Wargo, interim superintendent in Newport, and Russ Holden, superintendent of Sunapee schools, that he learned only recently that Newport would not be running the LNA program this year.
“This unexpected change would negatively impact students from Claremont and possibly all three towns who planned their school schedules and careers pathways around the promise of the program operating in 2026-2027,” Broadrick wrote.
Broadrick credited quick action by the Claremont school board, support from Jeffery Beard at the state Department of Education, and Claremont’s tech center director, Michelle Herrington, with moving quickly to begin running the LNA program on Wednesday.
Broadrick asked Wargo and Holden to inform their staffs and communities “that all students previously enrolled in the LNA program at SRVRTC-Newport will be welcomed immediately if they wish to continue their studies at SRVRTC-Claremont.”
Broadrick also said he believes there is capacity in the program and Claremont’s existing medical assisting program to accommodate more students if others are interested.
“The breadth of the LNA course allows it to be embedded into the existing Medical Assisting program,” the district said in a news release. “This will allow SRVRTC- Claremont to teach both during the same hours to students who enroll in levels one and two.
“Just as important, students who were already enrolled in Newport’s program will be allowed to continue their studies without interruption,” the district said.
Transportation to and from Claremont will be provided to all Newport and Sunapee students.
Broadrick said the state has approved the program and there is already a qualified instructor, Julia Kelly, a registered nurse. He asked Wargo for assistance in moving hospital beds, EKG machines and other equipment used in the LNA program from Newport to Claremont. A message left for Wargo Tuesday was not immediately returned.
The news release from the district said enrollment at the technical center in Claremont is close to 500 for this year, a sharp increase from the 2024-25 figure of 284.
“With the addition of the new LNA program, Herrington expects that number to grow even more,” the district said. “As Claremont begins thinking about strategy in this era of declining enrollment and inevitable school consolidation, this technical center should be a crown jewel of Upper Valley public education.”
Broadrick also said Claremont will work to establish an adult workforce development LNA certification program run in the evenings at the technical center.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com
