A Midcoast school district is working on a plan to determine the fate of its aging community elementary schools, one that could decide which schools are consolidated, rehabbed, replaced or shut down.
Maine School Administrative District 75, which includes Topsham, Bowdoin, Bowdoinham and Harpswell, presented several hypotheticals to the public during a series of forums throughout the fall and winter as the district drafts its long-range facilities plan.
Materials drafted by Harriman Architects and Engineers identified Williams-Cone School in Topsham, Harpswell Community School and Bowdoinham Community School — all built in the 1950s — as in need of major renovations.
Superintendent Heidi O’Leary said Thursday that the district is in the initial phases of the process, so it will be months until residents hear whether SAD 75 intends to close, consolidate or rebuild any schools.
The district’s next step is meeting with the four towns it serves sometime in the next six to 12 months and determining a course of action. Any school projects will likely need voter approval.
“This is designed to be an all-inclusive process,” taking into consideration the needs of parents, teachers, students and towns, O’Leary said.
Implementation of the facilities plan is expected to take at least five years, according to O’Leary.
“A school takes a good four to five years to build, and we’re talking several different schools, and we have no idea which direction we’re going to go yet,” she said.
One of the options the district could take is to renovate all three aging community elementary schools. It may also put an addition onto Williams-Cone or completely reconstruct it, in addition to completing major renovations at the Bowdoinham and Harpswell schools.
Or it could choose to close Harpswell, Williams-Cone or Bowdoinham — or some combination of the three — and move students to a new or existing school (such as Woodside Elementary in Topsham).
In its report, the architecture firm laid out a dozen iterations of possible ways to merge, close, renovate and/or build new schools.
For example, one option includes completing major renovations on Bowdoinham Community School, closing Harpswell and Williams-Cone, and building a new addition at Woodside to account for those students.
A more complicated scenario consists of closing Bowdoinham, Harpswell and Williams-Cone, and bussing Bowdoinham students to Bowdoin Central School, while Harpswell and Williams-Cone students would go to an expanded Woodside school.
Woodside Elementary and Bowdoin Central, SAD 75’s other two elementary schools, were built in 1991 and 2002, respectively, and are generally in better condition.
The district is facing an estimated $67.5–$81 million in repair costs over the next decade, the architecture firm determined in its assessment of district buildings.
The district polled community members throughout the public process and found that most respondents were in favor of options that renovate or reconstruct the community schools but don’t close any of them.
“What we’re hearing is that people don’t want to close their hometown schools,” O’Leary said. “So we’re really working to that; we’re taking that very seriously and looking at what the options are.”
One of the biggest concerns with the buildings’ longevity is accessibility, O’Leary said. Harriman rated all district buildings expect Mt. Ararat High School as in “critical” need of ADA improvements.
“Not taking care of our infrastructure is not an option,” O’Leary said.
The firm also looked at factors like code compliance, safety and security and the HVAC, plumbing, fire protection and electrical systems in all district buildings.
SAD 75 is planning on holding more community forums to gather public input in the coming months, O’Leary said Thursday.
Materials about the upcoming facilities plan are available on the district website under facilities and grounds.
This story was originally published by the Maine Trust for Local News. Katie Langley can be reached at [email protected].
