BRUNSWICK

The Brunswick Town Council will hold a hearing on two proposed school projects totaling $33.7 million on Jan. 17.

The proposal includes financing $28 million for a new elementary school and $5 million to renovate the junior high. Plans include building a new grade school at 75 Jordan Ave., the location of the now-defunct Jordan Acres School. The new school would replace the existing Coffin School.

Students and staff are overcrowded at Coffin, which has for decades housed its library, two kindergarten classrooms, the art and music room in portable classrooms outside of the main building.

Repairs to Brunswick Junior High School would make the school conform to the Americans with Disabilities Act, among other improvements.

On Monday, the council and members of the school board debated whether to split each project into separate referendum questions in June.

“The board, I don’t think, will be in favor of that,” School Board Chairman Billy Thompson said.

Councilor Dan Harris said having two separate ordinances and two separate questions on the ballot may be preferable for voters.

“It’s their money,” he said.

Applying for state aid may be a possibility. There are no guarantees that reimbursement or construction costs would be reduced with an application, which may take years to enact pending state approval.

Monday Night ruckus

Resident Richard Fisco, who frequently attends council meetings, loudly spoke on school spending.

Twice, Town Council Chairwoman Sarah Brayman banged the gavel, warning Fisco to cool down.

Fisco said that he had a constitutional right to speak.

Brayman warned him that a police officer would be called if he did not control his anger.

“The school is in the town,” Fisco said. “The town is not a department of the school.”

The town has other pressing financial needs, he noted.

“The state won’t help us build a new fire house or fix our roads,” he said.

Fisco said a workshop meeting is needed, instead of determining a date for a public hearing. Taxes would rise from $300 to $1,500 a year, he said. An ongoing property revaluation would raise taxes, Fisco added.

Brayman asked Fisco to step away from the podium. He did.

Councilor Jane Millett later noted: “The revaluation has nothing to do with the school vote.”

Funding questions remain

“I think the elementary school and lack of capacity is our most urgent and pressing need,” said former school board member Rich Ellis.

Ellis said he agreed that splitting the bond request into two articles or questions may not be wise.

An application can be made for state building aid, as earlier done and won for the Harriet Beecher Stowe elementary school. It’s not a straightforward process from application to possible award. For example, School Administrative District 75 applied in 1999 for state aid. In 2015, they were in seventh place on the list for state building consideration aid.

School board member Sarah Singer doubted that Brunswick would receive another round of school building aid after the HBS project. The school opened in 2011.

“The odds that they would fund two are great,” Singer said.

“I know it’s a betting issue,” Brayman said, “but one issue is we apply and see what happens.”

Citing a letter from resident Jean Powers, Councilor John Perreault suggested eliminating a preschool program in the new elementary school in order to reduce costs.

lconnell@timesrecord.com

School costs

• NEW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: $28 million; to be built at Jordan Acres site.

• JUNIOR HIGH REPAIRS: $5 million, includes work to make school ADA compliant; roof repairs.