SAD
15 plans to fix schools Will present bond in November
By Elizabeth Prata
Gray-The SAD 15 (Gray and New Gloucester) Board of
Directors have heard for years the indignant complaints
from the community on the state of the school buildings.
"Deplorable!" "Atrocious!" citizens
exclaim, and School Board members face angry citizens
whenever a new school year rolls round and they are
asked why the SAD had let the buildings go to the
extent that they have.
Board Chair Dr. Alan Rich agreed that in the past
when push came to shove, previous Boards moved money
from maintenance lines to the educational lines, and
slowly the schools got the worse for wear.
Dr. Rich, the current Board, and Administration want
to put an end to all that. Critical life-safety issues
and the space-needs programming issues in all five
schools would be taken care of in one fell swoop if
the SAD offers a bond to the voters, and that is just
what they are doing.
The Facilities Update Committee has been working for
months on a series of measures that first identified
critical life safety needs, and prioritized them for
an application to the State's Revolving Renovations
Funds (RRF) committee. The RRF pays Districts from
a pool of money that exists at the state level, but
the Districts do not get 100% reimbursement. SAD 15
has sent an application totaling 5 million dollars
to the state, and some percentage of that will be
reimbursed, if the application is accepted. Right,
rotted windows at Russell School. file photo
The SAD 15 Facilities Committee also assessed space
needs that sustain educational achievements for students
as required by the Maine State Learning Results. This
part of the bond is not eligible for RRF reimbursements
and would be at local taxpayer expense.
Business Manager Terry Towle said the State RRF Committee
is looking at the SAD's application now, and preliminary
feedback is that it looks good for the SAD. The SAD
should know by the end of August what percentage may
be reimbursed. The RRF addresses the life-safety issues
for each school so the application is for renovations
only.
What this translates to is that the leaky roof at
the Middle School would be fixed. The heating system
at Russell School would be replaced. The windows at
Memorial School wouldn't be falling out any more.
No more air quality scares and evacuations. The schools
would be easier to clean and to keep clean.
The second part of the bond addresses space needs.
The District is required to teach certain subjects
as per the Maine Learning Results that extend beyond
the traditional three R's. Reading, Writing, now called
"English Language Arts," and Arithmetic
are still required, of course, but added to thee basic
curriculum are also Social Studies, Science, Health,
Technology, Foreign Languages, and Visual and Performing
Arts. The teachers must teach it, and they need room
to do that, triggering the programming needs that
are independent of the enrollments, said Ms. Burns.
"The High School Student population will decrease
from a current enrollment of 723 students on 05-06
to 579 students by 2014-15," said Superintendent
Victoria Burns at a Facilities meeting Monday night.
"A significant enlargement of the building would
not be warranted due to enrollment."
However, the high school does have programming needs
that need to be addressed regardless of the decline
of student populations over the next ten years, she
explained. The High School would not be enlarged,
but the space inside would be reconfigured to meet
space needs in the 21st century.
On the plate for discussion is a re-vamped gymnasium,
a performing arts center, reconfigured classrooms
and moving the Administrator's offices to a place
that overlooks the front doors. "Currently the
Administrative staff cannot see who comes in and out
of the building. That is a safety issue," Ms.
Burns said.
The High School uses the Middle School's stage and
right now the band rooms are next to classrooms. The
East Gym would be enlarged to seat 500 for performances,
and have a host of rehearsal rooms behind it. The
West Gym would be enlarged and have updated locker
rooms and a gym curtain so it could be used by two
teachers at a time.
The second part of the bond, the local part, is estimated
at 3 million so combining both parts, the SAD is estimating
a total somewhere near 9 million dollars. These are
for projects spanning all five schools
Debt service in the SAD is currently low, with the
biggest debt payment for the two Middle School bonds
scheduled to be paid completely by the 2007-8 school
year and the second one paid by 2008-9.
Mr. Towle said that if the bond is approved in 2006,
there would be two crunch years and then the payments
lower as the two Middle School bonds dropped off.
He said that the amount of indebtedness overall within
the SAD is comparatively low to other districts that
have built new facilities.
The Facilities Committee will work on finalizing the
second part of the upcoming bond, and plans to be
ready for the polls by November. In between, the Facilities
committee members said there will be plenty of community
discussion.
Revolving
Renovation Funds application summary:
Memorial
School: 9 items, totaling $1,514,443
Russell School: 8 items, totaling $1,180,611
High School: 6 items, totaling $1,655,393
Middle School: 7 items, totaling $507,718
Dunn School: 4 items, totaling $166,149
Priority
One issues in each school are indoor air quality,
asbestos abatement, roof renovations, ADA compliance,
and other.
Priority
Two items are: HVAC systems, electrical, plumbing,
fire protection systems, exterior closure systems,
interior construction, and foundation systems.
