TOPSHAM

School Administrative District 75 officials expressed disappointment Thursday after once again learning that the district remains just out of the running for state funding to either renovate or replace Mt. Ararat High School.

The Maine Department of Education announced Wednesday that the State Board of Education approved Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen’s proposal to give six schools “in critical need of renovation or replacement … the go-ahead to build new facilities or renovate existing ones.”

SAD 75’s application for funding to replace Mt. Ararat High School ranks seventh on the state’s most recent school construction priority list.

The state’s “Approved Projects List” uses a calculated assessment formula to rank 71 school funding proposals based on need. Based on that formula, Mt. Ararat High School missed funding by 0.78 rating points.

Projects that gained approval to move forward with plans for renovation or replacement include Morison Memorial School in Corinth; Sanford High School and Regional Technical Center; Newport Elementary School; Emerson School in Sanford; Charles A. Snow School in Fryeburg; and Nokomis Regional High School in Newport.

“The six would be the first schools since 2005 to be slated for construction with state funds,” the release continues. “Department officials made clear, however, that as the process is only now beginning, no decisions have been made about whether the schools will require new construction or renovation”

The DOE further notes that, “Because the solutions vary widely and require months of investigation, no cost estimates have been made for the six approved projects.”

Offering some hope to otherwise disappointed SAD 75 officials, the release states, “The decision to begin work on the first six projects does not preclude additional projects from being approved later.”

Then-SAD 75 Superintendent Michael Wilhelm said in March 2011 that the district has applied for state funding to address physical deficiencies at the high school for more than 10 years. SAD 75 officials have long argued that the open- classroom design at the school, which opened in 1973, provides a less-than-adequate learning environment.

In an email Thursday to The Times Record, Superintendent Brad Smith wrote, “Of course we are very disappointed to not be in the first group approved. We know how imperative it is to address the issues at our high school sooner, not later. It is for us a high priority and we will continue to advocate for funding.”

The district’s first step from here will be to talk further with DOE officials to “better understand the factors in this decision, and what those factors might mean to SAD 75,” Smith wrote. “That information will then be shared with the board and we will consider our options.”

Smith said there is still reason to be optimistic because “The State Board of Education has supported the need to begin addressing school construction projects in our state.”

SAD 75 officials will await cost estimates for the first six projects, with hope that budgets for that work will leave money available to address the structural problems at Mt. Ararat High School.

“Now is also a good time to conduct such work as construction costs are favorable,” Smith wrote.

Kim Totten, chairwoman of the SAD 75 board of directors, also stressed Thursday that when the school project priority list came out, SAD 75 officials didn’t know how much state funding would be available. They “still don’t know where they stand financially,” she said.

However, with a ranking that falls one slot outside the new round of potential state construction funding, “there’s a lot of disappointment and I’m sure I won’t be the only one expressing that feeling,” Totten said.

“ We want to have a good understanding of where the state is” on available school construction funding, “and I’m sure this isn’t the end of the discussion,” Totten said.

Totten is also hopeful that the state maintains the most recent ranking of projects when considering future funding, rather than tossing Mt. Ararat “back in the mix” for a new rating cycle, which would require a labor-intensive new application.

Joanne Rogers, who has served on the SAD 75 school board since 2000, said Thursday, “I obviously am extremely disappointed that we again did not make the cut.”

Suggesting that SAD 75’s needs are as extreme as any of the six projects approved, Rogers said, “We have been on the list for a very long time and I find it very difficult to understand why, with the issues that we have at Mt. Ararat, that we have not been considered for at least another round.”

“ We will continue our efforts to ensure that the needs of SAD 75 are well known and understood by those in Augusta who make these important decisions, decisions that are about more than just buildings,” Smith wrote. “These are decisions that affect learning and the success of our students.”