BRUNSWICK

The Brunswick School District is regrouping over plans for badly needed renovations to its Coffin Elementary and Junior High schools, following a rebuke from the town council.

On Aug. 3, the town council voted not to send a $12.5 million renovation package for the schools to a public hearing. The renovations would have extended the life of the two schools another 10 to 15 years.

In that meeting, Facilities Director Paul Caron outlined a shopping list of issues with the aging buildings, saying the structures built in the 1950s and 1960s were only designed to last about 40 years.

Over the years, failed pipes have caused flooding and water damage, a roof with no overhang has led to eroding mortar on the outside of the junior high as well as rotten window casings from seepage through the masonry.

Also, a lack of fire doors in the stairwells and an open lobby in the junior high create safety concerns for the students and staff in the event said that the public address systems are so antiquated the schools are no longer able to find replacement parts.

The council rejected sending the proposed $12.5 million package to a public hearing, saying largely that they wanted to see a bigger project like a new school building. Councilors said they do not see the pared down list of repairs from the school board as being in the best interest of the town.

School Superintendent Paul Perzanoski said at the beginning of the discussion Wednesday night that he had met with the school district’s attorney to discuss options in the face of the council’s decision not to go to a public hearing.

Perzanoski then suggested the board look at the proposal and decide on the next step before approaching the council again.

“The superintendent just said we should look at what proposal we want to send back. I’m not sure that we should be sending anything back,” said board member James Grant.

Grant said the council should look at the board’s material and that the board should help them through the process of understanding why the board came to the decision it did over the last five years.

Board member Brenda Clough said she finds the whole process “worrisome.”

Clough said the items on the list of renovations and repairs represented what was left of an already pared down process. She said she found it ironic that the council might want to remove items from an already watered down list.

Clough said that the town is at a point where the schools need to be operational, referring to the current situation as a “political game.” Clough said she would not support any motion to send a different plan to the council.

“I just can’t, in good conscience, allow them to start saying yes, we need this and no, we don’t need that,” Clough said.

Board member Corrine Perreault said she was disappointed in the town council’s decision not to move forward with a public hearing, saying it was a non-binding way to hear from the public on the issue.

“To not give the public the opportunity to speak on it was irresponsible,” Perreault said.

There was some discussion regarding the current state of the aging schools with the whole board in agreement of how unpalatable the options would be if there was a major system failure at either building, causing them to effectively share space with other schools.

Further discussion on renovation and school replacement plans was eventually tabled indefinitely.

Also on Wednesday, the board decided to place issues with the high school boiler ahead of plans to repair the track, moving the boiler to this fiscal year and the track to next pending further studies of what has caused the track to deteriorate.