WINDHAM—In a split vote, the Regional School Unit 14 Board of Directors defeated a measure Wednesday night to ask voters next June to entirely fund a new $42.5 million middle school.

The School Board had planned to bring the referendum to voters next year, to start construction in 2018 and open the new middle school for occupancy in the fall of 2020. Now, the plans could be delayed several years while a funding application is reviewed by the state.

At the Dec. 7 meeting, following new information from the Maine Department of Education regarding funding for construction projects, the board voted, 5-2, not to put the referendum question on the June ballot. School Board Chairwoman Marge Govoni and board member Scott McLean voted in favor of moving the question to referendum. Anna Keeney and Eric Colby were absent.

At the meeting, Kate Brix, board member and chair of the facilities committee, told the Board that changes in the state’s complex construction funding cycle have opened up the possibility that the district could receive considerable funding for the project, making some members of the board reconsider whether a June 2017 referendum was in the best interest of Windham taxpayers.

The plan was, and still is, to construct the new middle school for a rough-cost estimate of $42.5 million on the fields adjacent to the Windham Public Library.

The new school would replace the existing, 39-year-old middle school, which poses a number of safety and security issues, according to Bill Hansen, facilities director. The problems include heating and ventilation issues, a lack of a sprinkler system and facilities that do not comply with the American Disabilities Act.

The district’s 1947-built Field Allen school, which also houses middle schoolers, has many of the same problems as the middle school building and also compromises student safety and restricts scheduling options because the sixth-graders who study there must walk outside to use the middle school’s gymnasium and cafeteria.

The new middle school would replace Field Allen and the Windham Middle School.

Windham residents would have paid for the entirety of the new school, in accordance with a new cost sharing formula negotiated by Windham and Raymond.

The board now plans to apply for funding from the state. The results of the application will not be known until April 2018.

The Board first applied for funding for the new middle school in 2010, and was ranked 42nd out of 71 projects – too low to receive funding.

Brix said based on new information from state officials, if the middle school project ranks high enough and the project is funded and approved, they would have a chance of being fully funded for the project.

With that in mind, the Facilities Committee recommended that the board reject the motion to move forward with a June 2017 referendum, and focus solely on the state application. Brix said if the board were to send the middle school question to voters next June, and it was approved, it would nullify any chance at receiving funding from the state.

Hansen also said that new information about snow load and ventilation problems, which he provided to the board, could strengthen the funding application.

Govoni, who voted in favor of holding the referendum in June 2017, said despite having more information, “I still l think we should do both (the referendum and the application) because I really don’t feel that secure in the fact we’re going to go from 42nd (to the top of the list).”

McLean, who also voted in favor of the June referendum, said he wanted to avoid putting all of the district’s eggs in one basket.

“We need a new middle school,” he said, adding he was concerned that other schools in the district with similar situations may have the state’s priority for funding.

The Board had previously discussed whether to move forward with renovations to the existing middle school or to construct an entirely new building. In June, the Board unanimously voted in favor of constructing a new building following a recommendation from the Facilities Committee, which advised that a new school would be more energy efficient, less costly to maintain and more conducive to 21st-century learning styles.

Preliminary design plans for a new Windham middle school presented to the board in June.