In a referendum featuring unusually high turnout, voters in School Administrative District 6 made their voices heard Tuesday by soundly rejecting a new elementary school planned for Hollis.

The total vote tally for the district, which includes Standish, Buxton, Hollis, Limington and Frye Island, was 699 voting in favor and 1,788 opposed. In Standish the vote was particularly lopsided as 92 percent of voters rejected the project. In all, 1,155 Standish voters voted against the proposal.

It wasn’t only Standish voters who overwhelmingly rejected the proposal to build the school in Hollis. Three other towns in SAD 6 – Limington, Frye Island and Buxton – each rejected the proposal by large margins. Hollis was the only town to approve the school project, voting more than three-to-one for the renovations.

The Standish Town Council, upset at the idea of a higher taxes, sent a flier to taxpayers before the vote asking that residents reject the proposal. According to those polled at the Standish Town Hall Tuesday morning, voters rejected the school project primarily because of the large burden local taxpayers would carry.

“I voted no,” said Michael Stevens of Standish, a disabled veteran. “I’d probably lose my house if it passes. Taxes would go up and people out of work can’t afford it.”

In the absence of state aid, local taxpayers would have shouldered full responsibility for the $12.8 million renovation project, though they would not have had to pay any interest because the funds would have been drawn from a federal loan program.

“I think it’s a ridiculous thing,” said Richard Brown of Standish. “To make it all local without a contribution from the state, if we just wait, I’m sure the state would come in on it.”

Les Kaplan, also of Standish, rejected the proposal as well.

“I’ve been out of work since April. It’s not a good time for cities and towns to be spending money,” Kaplan said. “Why do we need another school anyway? Do we really have that many students? The baby boom is over.”

According to Superintendent Suzanne Lukas, the extra room at Hollis Elementary was needed because of unexpected increases in student enrollment. Built for 274 students, the school, constructed more than 50 years ago on Route 35, will house 365 students this fall. To handle the extra students, one portable classroom has been added this school year, and another will have to be added next year.

“We’ve definitely seen growth in Hollis,” said Lukas.

The project would have added a wing to the back of the existing building as well as classrooms to the main building. The old gymnasium, now separate from the main building, would have been replaced and put in the main building, and the plan also would have updated the library and remodeled spaces for student support services like special education.

Carolyn Beigel, a former Standish town councilor, voted to approve the Hollis project. She believes the era of state-funded school construction projects is over and that voters should have pounced on federal aid that would have funded renovations to the Hollis elementary school.

“With the economic condition of the state, I don’t think we’ll see state-funded schools like we did in the past,” Beigel said Tuesday morning. “To get a no-interest loan only available because of the federal stimulus is a good opportunity. What are we going to do if we don’t do it now?”

Under the program, SAD 6 residents would have had to pay the principal on the bond, saving just under $7 million in interest over the life of a 20-year bond. The project was previously declined for state funding, which would have paid for the majority of the project but has come increasingly scarce over the last few years.

Biegel also said the newly renovated school would have benefited not only Hollis students but students district-wide.

“If kids anywhere in SAD 6 are involved in activities, at some point they will utilize the facilities at Hollis. You’ll see it’s in bad need of refurbishing,” Biegel said. “We are one district and we have to do what’s best for the entire district.”

Rebecca Rogers and Roxann Twombly, with cane, vote at Standish Town Hall Tuesday. Standish residents joined with other SAD 6 communities to reject a new elementary school for Hollis. Also pictured, from left, are ballot clerks Phillip Rich, Gail Rich, Bette King and Betty Ann Irish. (Staff photo by John Balentine)