A proposal to renovate or replace Sanford High School and Regional Technical Center is among the top school construction projects on the state funding list that was released Wednesday.
It was a banner day for the York County town, which learned that it has four schools on the list of 71 projects statewide that are eligible for funding through the Maine Department of Education’s Major Capital Improvement Program.
At No. 2 on the list, the Sanford High School project would end the need for 12 double-wide portable classrooms that were installed years ago to address crowding, said Superintendent Elizabeth St. Cyr.
It also would enable the school district to further its plan to offer associate degree programs through the technical center, which serves students from Traip Academy and Massabesic, Marshwood, Noble, Wells and York high schools.
“I’ve never seen a list like this,” St. Cyr said. “This will be the first new school construction in our district in 20 years.”
Given the state’s financial troubles, St. Cyr said she doesn’t expect any funding for four years.
Other Sanford schools on the list are Emerson Elementary, at No. 4; Lafayette Elementary, at No. 13; and Willard Elementary, at No. 36. All are aging schools with various safety, accessibility and crowding issues.
The top 10 projects on the list include Morison Memorial School in Corinth; Newport Elementary School; Charles Snow School in Fryeburg; Nokomis Regional High School in Newport; Mount Ararat High School in Topsham; Martel Elementary School in Lewiston; Monmouth Middle School, and Teague Park School in Caribou.
Every few years, the Department of Education seeks applications for state funding, evaluates and scores project proposals based on need, and issues a priority list that will be the basis of capital improvement funding decisions for the next few years.
“The list is a vitally important tool for us in understanding the scope of the needs in our schools,” said Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen in a prepared statement. “When resources become available, we’ll be able to address the most significant needs first.”
No money is committed to any projects, which the state would fund through borrowing, said David Connerty-Marin, the Education Department’s spokesman. The department and the State Board of Education are tentatively scheduled to approve project concepts in 2012 and 2013.
School districts have 60 days to appeal the ranking of their projects, after which a final priority list will be presented to the education commissioner and Board of Education.
Portland school officials are considering an appeal. Maine’s largest school district has $60 million in school construction needs and five elementary schools on the priority list: Hall is No. 12, Longfellow is No. 18, Reiche is No. 21, Presumpscot is No. 33 and Lyseth is No. 43.
Hall Elementary is a wooden structure that was built in 1958 as a temporary school for children of military personnel who lived in nearby Sagamore Village. Hall closed a kindergarten classroom last month and moved students because of a foul odor from an unidentified source. Air quality tests are pending.
“Hall is definitely in the worst shape of all (our) schools on the list,” said Jaimey Caron, the school board’s finance chairman. “It’s worth considering an appeal, given our recent experience with that building. It is obsolete and has outlived its usefulness. I hope we can nudge it up the list.”
Caron and Portland Superintendent Jim Morse noted that four high school projects at the top of the priority list, including Morse High School in Bath at No. 11, diminish the funding chances for smaller school projects.
“A high school project can cost as much as $70 million,” Morse said. “You can build six elementary schools with that money. I respect the process they use to identify school building needs, but at a time of limited resources, to have high schools dominate the top of the list doesn’t make sense.”
Elsewhere on the list, Mahoney and Memorial middle schools in South Portland are No. 14 and No. 55, respectively. Both schools have significant safety, accessibility and efficiency concerns, and school officials have discussed consolidating the schools at one site.
In Regional School Unit 21, Kennebunk High School is No. 28, Mildred Day School in Arundel is No. 54 and Kennebunkport Consolidated School is No. 61.
Bonny Eagle High School in Standish is No. 32 and Hollis School is No. 34.
Windham Middle School is No. 42 and North Yarmouth Memorial School is No. 65.
The Education Department aims to renovate wherever it’s feasible, Connerty-Marin said. In the past three construction cycles, about two-thirds of the projects were additions and renovations; one-third required new buildings.
In the 2004-05 funding round, Portland’s Nathan Clifford Elementary School topped the list. Clifford was replaced by the Ocean Avenue Elementary School, which opened last month.
Second on the list that year were the Jewett and Hanson elementary schools in Buxton, which were replaced by the new Buxton Center Elementary School.
Other projects in the top 10 that year were: Winter Harbor Grammar School, Bryant Moore School in Ellsworth, Norridgewock Central School, Pettingill School in Lewiston, Ashland Central School, State Street School in Brewer and Fred Wescott School in Westbrook.
The state funded 22 projects based on the 2004-05 priority list, Connerty-Marin said.
In 2001-02, Lincolnville Central School and Gray Middle School topped the list, followed by Paris Middle School, Massabesic Middle School, Mount View High School, Charleston Elementary School, Hall-Dale Elementary School, Sacopee Valley Middle School, Jack Elementary School in Portland and Farwell Elementary School in Lewiston.
Staff Writer Kelley Bouchard can be contacted at 791-6328 or at:
kbouchard@pressherald.com
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