SAD 28 ponders Rockport addition Panel seeks to move on $1.3M project

CAMDEN – SAD 28 officials are preparing to shift into high gear to resolve, at least temporarily, some problems that plague Rockport Elementary School.

Nearly two years ago, the district learned that its application for state money to expand and renovate Rockport Elementary School was not rated high on the state’s education priority list. Since then, the district has explored options to deal with the aged, overcrowded school.

Last month, the board voted to remove two stand-alone trailers in the school parking lot and a modular unit attached to the building, and to plan to replace them with a 15-classroom addition.

Superintendent Pat Hopkins said the addition might cost $1.3 million and may end up being abandoned if a new school is built on another site, but the district has little choice.

“Our backs are just to the wall,” she said Tuesday. “People are like sardines down there.”

The school cafeteria has been subdivided to add a classroom, and the principal has given up her office and moved into a large closet, Hopkins said.

Rockport Elementary is along Route 1, but access is from West Street. It is the epicenter of a perennial traffic jam when pupils are dismissed each afternoon. The district hopes to ease, if not eradicate, the traffic problem by removing the trailers from the school parking lot.

Hopkins said the school, in conjunction with the town of Rockport, is applying for a state Department of Transportation grant to address the traffic problem.

In addition, the school has identified some air-quality problems, but those have been kept at bay with remediation measures.

Even though the cost might seem high for a short-term fix, Hopkins said, a new school, if state funding is won, would not be completed until 2009. The district plans to submit an application for new school funds in June.

A site committee is investigating possible locations for a new school. The Rockport Elementary School site is 7.5 acres, and the state recommends 9.5 acres for a new elementary school. Properties adjacent to the school might be available for purchase, the committee has reported, which might allow the district to create a new school on-site.

At the workshop, Hopkins will discuss funding options for the addition project. The district hopes to put the work out to bid in February or March, with construction planned for the summer vacation.

Principal Jan Staples and staff are working on floor plans for a reconfigured building, which will be discussed at the meeting.

A workshop on the issue is planned for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 17, at SAD 28’s bus barn. A regular board meeting follows.