SOUTH PORTLAND – After a strong showing of support from parents of school-aged children and city education officials, the South Portland City Council on Monday took its strongest step yet toward putting the high school renovation project out to voters.

By a 4-2 vote, councilors passed the first reading of a measure to place the $44.2 million bond issue for the high school renovation project on the November ballot. Councilors Tom Blake, Linda Boudreau, and Patti Smith and Mayor Tom Coward voted in favor of the measure, while Councilors Rosemarie DeAngelis and Jim Hughes voted against it. Councilor Maxine Beecher was not at the meeting to vote, but indicated at a special council workshop on Aug. 18 that she supports the full project.

Second reading of the measure is scheduled for the Sept. 8 City Council meeting, where councilors are expected to reach a final decision.

Boudreau has been vocal about her support of the project.

“I firmly believe $44.2 million is the right number for the project,” said Boudreau, who has been serving the public on either the school board or City Council for close to 25 years. “This is the number that should be put forth for the people of South Portland to vote on. Shaving the project will just do a disservice to the city because we will have a faulty building we will just have to fix later.”

Blake said deciding on whether to support the price of the new high school has been one of the hardest decisions he has had to make during his time on the council.

“We have to serve 25,000 people and we have people screaming in our ears from all directions,” he said.

If done right, Blake said he believes the high school building can, like Mahoney Middle School, be a building the town can be proud of in 100 years.

“I believe in the project and I am ready to move it forward and see it through,” he said.

Hughes and DeAngelis were less enthusiastic about the project. Both have said the project is too large and too expensive.

DeAngelis, a lifelong educator, has said she cannot support a high school project of more than $35 million. The size of the project, she said, is also problematic, arguing it is planned for 1,100 students, an enrollment she feels the district won’t reach.

“I don’t believe it is big buildings that bring big results,” she said.

Hughes agreed.

“I urge my fellow councilors to reject the plan,” Hughes said. “Let’s act like the frugal Yankees we are supposed to be. Let’s send the proposal back to the school board, have them review the plan and cut the size of the building.”

At the meeting, residents also spoke out on the high school project.

Jeff Selser, who said he firmly supports the full project, told the council he thought it was “terribly nai?ve” of the council to think that they could find millions of dollars of savings in the project.

Dropping the price of the high school, unlike negotiating the sales price of an automobile, completely changes the very nature of the plan, he said.

“I am firmly convinced $44.2 million is the right number. Anything less is the wrong number. We can’t go any lower,” said Selser. “It is not acceptable to have an unaccredited high school. It is acceptable to have an adequate high school and it is not acceptable for the citizens of our community to have something substandard.”

Margaret Hawkins, the principal of Brown Elementary School, said the high school’s current students and those following behind them should have the opportunity to learn in a proper educational setting. She said she runs into former students all the time who are now doctors, lawyers, scientists, and who all indicate some of their success is due to the education they received in the South Portland school system.

Not dealing with the high school now will only continue to make matters worse, said Melissa Linscott.

“We are reaching a crisis point,” she said. “This project needs to happen and it needs to happen now.”

She said as a real estate agent she has seen a number of families leave the area or decide not to move to the city because of the condition of the high school.

“This is having a really big impact on the community,” she said. “There are a lot of people being forced to make some really hard decisions on behalf of their children.”

Anton Hoecker, who moved to South Portland 11 years ago, said he just wants a suitable high school that he and his children can take pride in.

“I want to stay in South Portland and I want my children to be proud of the school system they come from ” Hoecker said, adding that his daughter, a sophomore at the school, is very aware that South Portland High School is ill equipped and inadequate when compared to nearby high schools.

However, some of the residents at the meeting said it was not the right time to proceed with such a large project.

Albert DiMillo, a vocal critic of the project and a candidate for the council, said, in his opinion, there is no way the current plan could pass, especially with the $44.2 million cost to the taxpayers, of which 85 percent don’t have children in the schools.

He argues the correct cost for the project is $25 million. Anything more than that, he said, will not pass.

Don Russell, another candidate for council, said as an idealist he could support the project and its cost, but as a realist he cannot support it because he does not think the timing is right and pushing it now could lead to failure.

“It’s not about cost, it is about passability,” he said. “The negative impact of a loss this November has not been analyzed or discussed. We need to win the November vote. I don’t believe in my heart of hearts, as a realist, we can win at that price.”

He said he would favor delaying the project until the economy improves and pass the project at a later date, even if it means at a higher figure.

After hearing the pleas, Coward said that though he would support the $44.2 million figure now to move it to second reading, he was still not entirely convinced on the project’s total and was open to hearing input from all sides from his constituents.

Jerry McQueeney, a school board member, said the City Council and school board have done their job analyzing the project and now it is time for the city’s residents to vote on it.

“The due diligence has been done,” he said. “Does this fit the taxpayer? It is not a question you can answer. It is not a question we can answer. Let them make the decision on what they can afford.”

A new group has emerged to help pass a November bond issue to fund the renovation and expansion of South Portland High School. (File photo)