The Cape Elizabeth Town Council and School Board met at a joint workshop on Dec. 12 to prepare for its third push for a new school in the past four years.

At the workshop, school board Chair Phil Saucier said the board plans to include a new middle school as part of the proposal, as it did in 2022 and this past November.

“The school board has determined, in consultation with experts, that our middle school building simply needs to be replaced,” Saucier said. “We’ve come to that conclusion after three different sets of architects have recommended that to us.”

A $116 million proposal for a new middle and elementary school and renovations at the high school was soundly rejected by voters in November 2022. A $94.7 million referendum that included a new middle school, renovations and additions at the elementary school and renovations at the high school was narrowly defeated in a 51% to 49% vote in November 2024.

Saucier said the board also believes that, financially, it is in the town’s best interest long term.

“We really need to reset the clock on one building because all three have significant needs,” he said. “If we don’t do that, it will really be a cliff when we start to reach the other two.”

The board and architects are looking at ways to cut costs by trimming down last year’s proposal, from making classroom sizes smaller to forgoing some wanted items. For example, Saucier said, they may consider shrinking the proposed cafeteria or opting for a middle school-sized gymnasium rather than the high school-sized one proposed in November.

The board will also consider paring back its plans for renovations and additions at the elementary school in an effort to cut costs.

“We’re going to design the building in a way that meets the needs of the students, but we’re not going to get everything we wanted the first time – and we know that,” Saucier said.

The $94.7 million proposal in November included $4.8 million for the town to repurpose or preserve the town’s original 1934 school building, which is currently part of the middle school.

Town Council Chair Penny Jordan proposed at the workshop that the council assemble an ad hoc committee “to look at the 1930s building and determine what will happen with it.”

“I’m putting that out there,” Jordan said. “We can talk about it a bit more in a workshop as to what that would look like, but I feel we need to get that moving; we know how long it can take to establish an ad hoc committee.”

The board and council will also have to determine when to hold a new referendum. Consultants told the school board at its Dec. 10 meeting that if the $88.9 million project were proposed again, the estimated cost would increase by $1.7 million in a March referendum and by $3.6 million at the June election. School officials said projections are not available on a November election yet.

A March election is unlikely. Town Manager Patrick Fox told the council and board that his staff has expressed concern about the time crunch and added workload.

“The logistics from using a space to printing ballots to getting absentee (ballots) and meeting all the absentee requirements – it would be a real challenge and overlap with their preparation for the June election,” Fox said. “That is a general concern with the March date on behalf of, basically, the town staff that runs the election.”

Board members and school officials said they are encouraged by the close result in November as it indicates they are getting close to a proposal that the majority of voters can get behind.

The school board and Town Council are scheduled to hold another joint workshop next month.