The Scarborough Town Council is expected next week to put a consolidated school project on the Nov. 7 ballot, including the purchase of 22 acres for it at The Downs.
The council fast-tracked the school project last year with an Aug. 16 deadline to have it prepped for a vote in the November election. Most councilors at a meeting last week said they are not sold on the current plan for a consolidated K-3 school to address overcrowding in the district, but they believe voters should decide.
“There are probably a dozen reasons people could pick apart why this isn’t the best deal, why it’s not the best location – they might not even be convinced that a consolidated school is the right answer,” Councilor Nick McGee said at a meeting earlier this month. “Those are expressions that can be made at the polls, and I would say don’t ask me as a councilor to stop you from expressing how you feel about the project in its entirety.”
The total cost of the proposed project will be presented to the council at its meeting Wednesday, Aug. 16.
The referendum would include purchasing nearly 22 acres of land from The Downs developers, Crossroads Holdings, for $7.2 million. The terms of the purchase would also include rezoning 34 acres of Downs-owned land (nine of which overlap with the new school plot) and incorporating it into an existing tax increment financing district. The town would be responsible for $3 million in road projects near the school, with The Downs contributing $6 million toward those road improvements.
The council approved the purchase deal Aug. 2, 6-1, but it requires voter approval. Councilor Don Hamill cast the sole vote against it.
“I regret that I have to part company with my fellow councilors, but I did not arrive at this position without a great deal of thought,” he said.
Councilor John Cloutier didn’t like the deal, either, he said, but it is the best solution.
“It’s a horrible deal, I hate the deal,” he said at the Aug. 2 meeting. “I could give you a thousand reasons to vote ‘no’ for this thing, but I think in the big picture it’s the right time to fix the problems with our schools and this is the solution that can do it. This is the place for it, this is the right location.”
Scarborough’s schools have been overcrowded for decades, officials say, and modular classrooms have been added as Band-Aid fixes. The school district uses about 30 portable classrooms. Overcrowding solutions that have been debated include adding another K-2 school or building one consolidated K-3 school.
The new school would replace the Pleasant Hill, Blue Point and Eight Corners K-2 schools. It would also include the third grade, freeing Wentworth School, grades 3-5, to take on sixth graders and alleviate overcrowding at the middle school.
“My daughter graduated in 2009 from Scarborough schools and at that time there was overcrowding and modulars,” said Councilor Jean-Marie Caterina. “I hate to see us get to the point where the schools are just so down and out and can’t fit the kids and aren’t meeting our educational needs, that we’re actually going to look foolish as a town, to be frank about it.”
McGee emphasized that the council’s role is to make sure a plan is ready to be voted on by the public – not to dictate the contents of that plan.
“The work from the building committee and the school board has been extraordinary up to this point … This is their No. 1 choice, this is their No. 1 location and this is what they want this community to pursue.”
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