The results are in and Scarborough residents said a resounding no the $160 million bond referendum question to build proposed unified school and for other school and infrastructure improvements with 5,913 no votes to 3,363 yes.. The proposed new K-3 unified school project, aimed at addressing overcrowding issues and modernizing the town’s schools, ignited a debate within the community. On one side, there were enthusiastic proponents who sawit as a vital step forward, while on the other side there are property owners and families negatively impacted by the site selection and a group known as SMARTaxes, who had raised concerns about the project’s cost, the consolidation of schools, and the potential impact on taxpayers.

The issue of overcrowding in Scarborough’s schools is not new. Superintendent Geoff Bruno, a proponent of the project, pointed out that student enrollment has exceeded the capacity of the three K-2 schools and the middle school for over two decades. Thirty percent of enrolled students are currently learning in portable classrooms, which were initially meant as a temporary solution but have become a long-term necessity.

Shannon Lindstrom, chair of the Scarborough school board, said proponents believe that a new school would provide modern spaces that cater to the educational needs of today’s students. She said the project promised permanent classrooms for middle school teachers, offering improved teaching conditions and enhanced safety for sixth-grade students.

“I’m disappointed that the unified school did not pass,” said April Sither, Scarborough Town Council member. “We need a solution that both addresses deficiencies at our aging primary schools and gets our sixth-graders out of the portable classrooms at the middle school. I think the building committee did an outstanding job educating the public on the existing needs of our students and educators, which is a huge endeavor. My hope is that this setback will be a call to action for our community to work toward a solution which builds on common ground.”

Two incumbents plus one newcomer won three open seats on the Scarborough Town Council but only three seats were available. Winners included Jon Anderson, and Jean-Marie Caterina, and Donald Cushing. The fourth candidate, Scott Doherty lost the election.

Jonathan E. Anderson earned the most votes with 5,638, Jean-Marie Caterina received 5,621 and Donald W. Cushing, Jr. garnered 5,037 votes. Scott W. Doherty received the least votes with 4,804, and did not earn a seat on the council.

Anderson welcomed new and incumbent councilors, “Thank you Scarborough for electing me to another term! I’m looking foreword to serving you with the rest of Council, including Jean Marie Caterina and newcomer Donald Cushing. Thank you to Scott Doherty for stepping up and running. It was close! I appreciate everyone who came out to vote, including on the school. Turnout was amazing. The Building Committee worked so hard to get to this point, but unfortunately it did not pass. There is more work to be done and I’m ready to roll up my sleeves with the community to bring an option that will succeed. I hope you will join me and others as the dust settles to work on this together for our kids and our community.”

Scarborough had three open seats for sanitary district trustees. Those elected includd Jason A. Greenleaf with 6.780 votes, Ruth A. Summers with 6,694 and Benjamin T. McDougal received 6,455 votes.

Leroy Crockett won the race for Portland Water District trustee with 4,513 votes, while his opponent Nicole Pellenz got 3,100 votes.

Scarborough votes on statewide referendum questions went along with the rest of  the state:

Local results include:

Question 1: Citizen Initiative
Do you want to bar some quasi-governmental entities and all consumer-owned electric utilities from taking on more than $1 billion in debt unless they get statewide voter approval?
Yes 6,197, No 2,738

Question 2: Citizen Initiative
Do you want to ban foreign governments and entities that they own, control, or influence from making campaign contributions or financing communications for or against candidates or ballot questions?
Yes 8,104, No 1,094

Question 3: Citizen Initiative
Do you want to create a new power company governed by an elected board to acquire and operate existing for-profit electricity transmission and distribution facilities in Maine?
Yes 2,609, No 6,669

Question 4: Citizen Initiative
Do you want to require vehicle manufacturers to standardize on-board diagnostic systems and provide remote access to those systems and mechanical data to owners and independent repair facilities?
Yes 7,717, No 1,503

Question 5: Constitutional Amendment
Do you favor amending the Constitution of Maine to change the time period for judicial review of the validity of written petitions from within 100 days from the date of filing to within 100 business days from the date of filing of a written petition in the office of the Secretary of State, with an exception for petitions filed within 30 calendar days before or after a general election?
Yes 5,423, No 3,399

Question 6: Constitutional Amendment
Do you favor amending the Constitution of Maine to require that all of the provisions of the Constitution be included in the official printed copies of the Constitution prepared by the Secretary of State?
Yes 6,636, No 2,250

Question 7: Constitutional Amendment
Do you favor amending the Constitution of Maine to remove a provision requiring a circulator of a citizen’s initiative or people’s veto petition to be a resident of Maine and a registered voter in Maine, requirements that have been ruled unconstitutional in federal court?
Yes 2,803, No 5,994

Question 8: Constitutional Amendment
Do you favor amending the Constitution of Maine to remove a provision prohibiting a person under guardianship for reasons of mental illness from voting for Governor, Senators and Representatives, which the United States District Court for the District of Maine found violates the United States Constitution and federal law?
Yes 4,165, No 4,737

Election results are unofficial until validated by the Secretary of State.

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