A third attempt at a rural high school in rural Maine is jeopardized if the four school districts involved do not receive state funding for engineering studies.
Last year, the Maine Department of Education told superintendents of districts around Dexter, Guildford, Milo and Corinth that they would have to fund pre-construction costs themselves and go through a difficult site selection process. . But the superintendent recently said the state was providing such funding to school districts in northern Aroostook County for similar endeavors and should support more.
This is an effort to pool resources as enrollment is declining in most rural schools.
of state-led pilot Began about 6 years ago, the districts of Piscataqui and Penobscot counties moved up the priority list after previous attempts at Halton and St. John Valley in Aroostook County failed. The school, which serves several multitown neighborhoods, will be the first of its kind in Maine. But the district is stuck, and the superintendent wonders why the St. John Valley Project was able to raise the money to hire an engineering firm early on when they can’t.
Kevin Jordan, superintendent of Dexter’s School District 46, said, “We believe that local citizens should be treated in the same way as others who have attempted this project.” We think it’s a matter of fairness to ask citizens to bear the initial cost of the octopus.”
The exact cost of the projects is not yet known, but the state offered $100 million for the St. John Valley proposal and $120 million for the Horton proposal. Based on these figures, superintendents believe millions of state funds are available, but have not yet been accessed.
Jordan said the school district involved in the St. John Valley project has a $351,500 contract with an engineering firm to complete the site selection process, according to the Maine Department of Education construction team.
Benjamin Sirois, director of SAD 27 at Fort Kent, who was involved in the project, confirmed the figure. Fund for Efficient Provision of Educational Servicescovered engineering costs and no local funds were spent, he said.
The grant was made available to the district in July 2018, and the department has awarded four projects out of 17 proposals received, according to the website.
The superintendent asked school commissioner Pender Makin if he could expect help from the state. Jordan says she told them in March that her team was looking at options to help the community, but they haven’t responded.
The school district does not solicit estimates from engineering firms to know what the research will cost.
Jordan said the superintendent has funded backers of major projects, including a Maine company that said it would provide equipment, training and internships for students once the school was built. increase. They’re not pushing hard because they want the same opportunities as the St. John Valley project, he said.
Mr Jordan said: “It would be very difficult to convince school boards to raise $100,000 each because of the potential for something like this to happen.”
The group has crossed some major hurdles, including agreeing to represent each school district equally on the new school board, rather than based on population. Last year, by special law, the state recognized community school districts as a governing structure.
It would be disappointing to see the project closed because the state won’t help pay the initial cost, said Kelly MacFadyen, Guildford’s head of SAD 4.
“The area desperately needs a project like this,” she said, pointing to tours school officials have taken to similar schools in Massachusetts. for us in the long run.”
The school serves grades 9 through 16 and will give students and adults access to more opportunities, college courses, and industry training programs. Jordan said the University of Maine and his Eastern Maine Community College will have space in the building.
Corinth’s Regional School Unit 64 is named by law but is separate from other school districts. The Corinthian district was involved in discussions and conferences and could choose to participate in the project.
The Bangor Daily News requested an interview with Makin, but spokesperson Marcus Murouka said she was unavailable last week.
The department recognizes that the lack of access to start-up funding through the state’s school building program can be a barrier for communities, he said.
“We have worked to make the funding available, including by supporting legislation that allows us to fund these startup costs,” he said. LD1415is under consideration in parliament.
The bill proposes amendments to the rules for major capital school construction projects. The Maine Board of Education will allow single high school or regional high school administration agencies to apply for funding in administering funding for combined Her 9th through Her 16th grade educational facilities. need to do it.
