Three plans for SAD 48 offered Public to have say on district buildings

NEWPORT – Mike McCormick of Dexter, hired by SAD 48 to conduct an assessment of the district’s 10 buildings and make recommendations about replacement, renovation or removal, has offered three plans for the future.

The plans proposed by McCormick for SAD 48 include:

. Renovate Nokomis High School into a middle school; convert two existing middle schools into elementary schools; construct new elementary school for Plymouth, Palmyra and Newport; close all existing elementary schools; construct a new high school with a career-vocational center, sports complex and arts center.

. Renovate Nokomis and keep it as a regional high school; construct a new career-vocational center; construct a new arts center; close the Newport-Plymouth Elementary School and construct a new one; two existing middle schools, Palmyra, Corinna and St. Albans schools will exist as is.

. Do nothing different.

Kelley Carter, SAD 48 business manager, said Thursday that none of the three recommendations has been discussed by the school board or the district’s building committee. He said none has been given weight and the biggest deciding factor will be public input.

The district has held a series of public hearings this summer to take a look at the condition, maintenance and future of each of its buildings – from the eight schools to the superintendent’s office to the bus garage.

McCormick has said that SAD 48’s buildings are worth $43.4 million, but over the next 20 years it will cost more than $62 million to keep those buildings intact.

That’s not counting general maintenance or staff. Those figures reflect what it would cost – in today’s dollars – to keep the buildings from literally falling apart.

“The district has been spending money over the years to maintain the schools, but it is important to note that it has not been spending enough,” McCormick said last week at a public hearing at Newport-Plymouth Elementary School. “You need to deal with this now. You will need to spend $30 million in the next five years just to keep pace with normal deterioration.”

McCormick and school officials recognize that SAD 48 is not unique and that many other Maine school districts are in the same boat. Deferred maintenance and aging buildings are going to cost millions in the next few years.

Carter said the next step in the process will be a complete presentation by McCormick to the SAD 48 building committee. No date has been set for that meeting.

Meanwhile, Carter said residents who want to see the data and comment on the proposals can visit the SAD 48 Web site at www.Msad48.org, leave comments on a blog at www.Msad48.blogspot.com, or come to the meetings as they are scheduled.