Public meeting for new SAD 46 school set

DEXTER- A progress report on the proposed construction of a $29 million school for kindergarten through grade eight will be given next week during a public meeting.

The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 28, at Dexter Middle School.

SAD 46 residents voted overwhelmingly earlier this year to build the proposed new school on the Fern Road in Dexter.

SAD 46 Superintendent Kevin Jordan said in a news release Friday that since then, dozens of residents have been volunteering their time to offer comment on what they would like to see incorporated into the new school.

School officials have been meeting with state education officials to discuss these visions, Jordan said.

Earlier this month, the state construction team approved the educational specifications and programming documents for the new school, according to Jordan. Approval of the concept is pending, he said.

In conjunction with the new school project, committees also were formed to discuss the disposition of the Garland and Exeter elementary schools and the Dexter primary-middle school.

Those involved with the project believe that along with providing an energy efficient complex, the new building will improve security, parking and traffic circulation for district students, teachers and parents, according to Jordan.

A straw vote on the final concept design will be held later this year followed by a referendum vote in February 2007. If voters approve the school, construction will start in early 2008 with a fall 2009 completion date.

The “vast majority” of the approximately $29 million to construct and furnish the new school will be paid by the state, Jordan said.

More information on the school project is available by calling the superintendent’s office at 924-5262. Information also is posted at the technology office next to Tillson’s on Main Street in Dexter and at www.newschoolproject.info.