THORNDIKE – The site plan proposed for a new kindergarten-through-12th-grade school for SAD 3 received unanimous approval in a straw poll Monday night.

The vote is a step required by the state Department of Education. Residents of the district approved the plan, 131-0.

The state Board of Education is scheduled to vote on the site plan at its meeting at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the Augusta Armory.

The state will pay for almost the entire cost of construction of the new facility, pending approval of the design concept by the state board and referendum approval by voters in the 11-town district. A ballpark figure for the project is around $20 million.

Before Monday night’s vote, school board Chairman Glenn Couturier said he was pleased at the turnout in the Mount View cafeteria.

The vote tally, though not binding, is scrutinized by the state board as it considers the site plan, he said. The strong support will work in the district’s favor.

Superintendent Dan Lee said the last several months have been occupied with lining up purchase and sales agreements with the owners of three parcels adjacent to the Mount View complex.

The site plan, explained by Rob Tillotson of the engineering firm Oak Point Associates of Biddeford, calls for the new school to be built on the land just south of the current school. That will allow classes to continue at Mount View while the work is under way.

The present Mount View complex – which includes elementary, junior high and high school wings – will be demolished.

Tillotson outlined the process by which his firm evaluated potential sites for the new school. Eight properties within a 5-mile radius of the current school were considered in Unity, Thorndike, Brooks and Knox, but the present location rose to the top, he said.

That site is “ideally located for this district,” he said, near the geographical center of the sprawling district, with access to three-phase power and state highways.

Allison Towne of Oak Point Associates said the new school will be situated on the highest part of the land the district will purchase. With the acquisition of the additional land, the campus will include 79 acres; the present campus includes 40 acres.

A straw poll on the building plan will be taken during the summer, he said, then state board approval will be sought. A districtwide referendum on the project is expected sometime in the fall.