FREEPORT – For the second time in six months, Regional School Unit 5 voters will decide the fate of a borrowing proposal to renovate Freeport High School.

But this time, the vote is complicated by a petition drive that calls for a study of Freeport’s withdrawal from the district.

A $16.9 million bond proposal was narrowly defeated on June 11. On Nov. 5, voters face a lower-cost bond package to fund the school renovations, and a separate ballot question to replace the turf on the athletic fields.

The Freeport High School Renovation Advisory Committee is recommending a base project for academic renovations and field repairs at a cost of $14,638,009. The separate ballot question, billed as a bond upgrade, would approve $1,718,891 for the construction of synthetic field surfaces.

The initial expansion plan called for a 31,000-square-foot addition that would have been constructed to replace the industrial arts building on the northwest side of the school. A new athletic complex, which would have been built behind the high school, would have had an eight-lane track, as well as competition and practice spaces for discus, high jump, javelin, long jump, pole vault and shot put.

The revised bond represents a reduction in scope, and includes moving the industrial arts department to the existing cafeteria location, which is approximately 3,000 square feet. The seating area for a new cafeteria food court would be 4,500 square feet, or 50 percent larger, to accommodate roughly 55 percent of the expected enrollment in 10 years. The first bond would repair the main athletic fields, with no future plans to construct a track or convert to a synthetic turf field. In addition, two-thirds of the field hockey field would receive drainage repairs and new grass.

RSU 5 officials have cited aging infrastructure and an expected increase in enrollment as major reasons why the school, built in 1961, needs an upgrade.

“The school is simply not big enough to handle our current student population,” said Freeport High Principal Bob Strong. “It’s about creating the best environment for the students.”

After the narrow defeat in June, the Regional School Unit 5 contracted with Triton Polling and Research of Henderson, Nev., in July to conduct a telephone survey of registered voters in order to determine why the referendum failed. Questions were also asked to determine whether amendments to the proposed renovations could be made to both meet the needs of the Freeport High School students and the expectations of the residents within the three towns that comprise RSU 5.

According to information supplied by RSU 5, the survey generally indicated that the bond was defeated because many voters were concerned about the cost impact. Further, some voters felt that the academic and athletic facility improvements should be separate ballot questions. Voters also expressed a desire to scale back the athletic improvements rather than scale back the academic improvements.

The Nov. 5 vote by Durham, Freeport and Pownal residents comes as Moving Freeport Forward, a group of residents advocating for a stand-alone Freeport school district, has submitted a petition to the town that will put the issue of withdrawal to Freeport residents within 60 days. The town is in the process of verifying the roughly 500 signatures, representing 10 percent of voters from the last gubernatorial election, that are needed to trigger a vote on whether to form a committee to begin the formal withdrawal process, according to Mary Howe, deputy town clerk for Freeport.

In 2012, Durham considered pulling out of RSU 5, but residents voted to keep the unit intact.

After the renovation measure failed to pass in July, the Freeport Town Council, responding to a groundswell of frustration from residents, began exploring the feasibility of withdrawing from the district and is still in the process of examining the cost and full consequences of such an action.

The debate leading up to the June vote revealed lingering tensions between the smaller towns of Durham and Pownal with Freeport concerning the shared costs of the district. Now, with the possibility of a Freeport stand-alone school district, some are taking a wait-and-see approach that has people on both sides wondering if approving a costly renovation bond is wise.

“I’m in favor of withdrawal, definitely,” said Durham resident Donna Church, owner of the Durham Get & Go, a popular convenience store/deli on Route 136. “It starts with this and then what? We start renovating other schools. I think the process should play itself out before we borrow any more money.”

Charles Anthony, a Durham resident, agrees with Church and takes issue with yet another bond coming before voters.

“We will break the old proposal into two parts, you can vote against one or the other – which implies they do not want you to vote no to both – and presto, we get a new high school, and you get stuck with two-thirds of the bill for it,” Anthony wrote in a letter to the Tri-Town Weekly Oct 1.

In response to the rancor surrounding the issue, Kate Werner of Freeport advocated a diplomatic approach to rejecting the bond.

“Let us dream big: Why not vote no on the current Freeport High School renovation bonds, exit RSU 5 and then redesign the school to a competitive, world-class facility?” she wrote in an Oct. 16 letter to the Tri-Town Weekly.

For fellow Freeport resident Lindsay Sterling, a vocal proponent of the renovation bond, waiting any longer to start the renovations would jeopardize the quality of education offered to students.

“I would hope that everyone interested in withdrawal also votes yes for the bonds. This prevents the worst-case scenario: the bonds fail, and withdrawal fails, leaving us for another year in this overcrowded, outdated limbo. Passing these bonds ensures progress no matter what happens in the withdrawal movement,” said Sterling. “If one or more bonds pass on Nov. 5 and withdrawal fails in a separate vote this winter, then we lose no time breaking ground on the renovations. If one or more bonds pass and withdrawal passes this winter, then we’ll know that withdrawal was passed not because of anger and frustration, but because of the merits of a plan for a better educational future run by separate towns. That plan would surely include renovating Freeport High School.”

If the bond does pass and Freeport residents vote to move forward on withdrawal, the money would not be spent, said Nelson Larkins, chairman of the 11-member RSU 5 board.

“What a yes vote does is grant us the authority to obtain the bond,” he said. “While the board obviously feels work needs to be done, we would never vote to issue the bonds until the Freeport withdrawal process plays out. It gives us a safety net.”

In the event the bond is not passed, the contingency plan for repairs and upgrades would come out of the basic budget. The school district currently earmarks $400,000 a year that would cover improvements, said Larkins.

The results of the previous expansion proposal from Freeport, Durham and Pownal put the total votes on the school project at 2,202 against and 2,028 in favor. In Freeport, 1,623 were in favor, 902 opposed. Pownal trounced the bond, 472 to 118, and it was the same story in Durham, where 828 were against and 287 in favor.

Pownal and Durham voters also rejected the $25.8 million 2013-2014 school budget.

A CLOSER LOOK

On Nov. 5 the polls will be open in Freeport from 7 a.m.-8 p.m. in the gymnasium at the Freeport High School, 30 Holbrook St. Absentee ballots are available at the Freeport Town Clerk’s Office now through Thursday, Oct. 31, at 6 p.m. For more information, contact Freeport Town Clerk Tracey Stevens at 865-4743 or visit www.freeportmaine.com.

In Durham, polls will be open from 8 a.m.-8 p.m. at the Durham Community School, 654 Hallowell Road. Absentee ballots can be obtained by calling the Durham Town Office, 353-2561, or in person.

In Pownal, residents can vote at Mallett Hall, 429 Hallowell Road, from 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Absentee ballots are available at Mallett Hall or by visiting pownalmaine.org. For more information, contact Pownal Administrative Assistant Scott Seaver, 688-4611.

Durham residents Donna Church and Kevin Nadeau outside Church’s Durham Get & Go on Oct. 21. Nadeau is in favor of passing a bond package Nov. 5 that would renovate and upgrade Freeport High School, while Church is a staunch opponent. Nonetheless, Church has encouraged Nadeau to speak to her customers about why he is in favor of the bond. “I’m not opposed to hearing both sides of the argument,” said Church. “I just don’t feel this is necessary during a time when money is tight for everyone.”