Board members, educators and officials of Regional School Unit 21 have long wanted to see renovations to some of the district’s schools. But the true test of whether residents feel the same way ”“ a district-wide vote ”“ will have to wait, at least for a little while longer.

Heading into this week, the school board had hoped to send a $57 million proposal to a referendum vote in November; the proposed renovations to Kennebunk High School, Kennebunkport Consolidated School and the Mildred L. Day School in Arundel cost approximately $14 million less than the original proposal, which was soundly rejected at the polls in January. Hoping that the reduced price tag would be more palatable for citizens, top RSU brass had spent much of the year working closely with Harriman Architects and Engineers to craft a scaled-down renovation plan that would cover only the essentials, such as energy efficiency, classroom size and handicap accessibility.

The only problem: An $8 million gap in estimated cost between Harriman and Consigli Construction.

Bridging the gap between architect and construction firm will take time, said RSU 21 Superintendent Kevin Crowley.

“It’s disappointing,” said Crowley. “But you know, it’s really important that we get this right.”

Currently, he said, the plan is to shoot for a vote in the late spring, possibly in June.

School board chairwoman Maureen King said in a statement that while the renovations are important for the district, the RSU has to keep in mind the needs of the electorate.

“As a board, we take our role as the stewards of the public’s trust and resources very seriously,” said King. “We will continue to work diligently toward a budget for these projects that reaches the delicate balance of providing first-class facilities our children deserve, at a price point the citizens in our three communities can support.”

In January, those citizens largely considered the original $71 million cost far too expensive, and school officials took notice. Gone is the community center that was envisioned for the high school in the old plan. The new plan for KHS, currently representing just shy of $44 million of the new proposal’s cost, calls for a more modest demolition and construction strategy for addressing the aging campus’ ailing infrastructure. The school would retain the same number of classrooms, but they would be enlarged, bringing them in line with standards set forth by the Department of Education for adequate classroom size. Harriman principal architect Dan Cecil said that currently, 95 percent of the classrooms are undersized, while under the preferred plan, only 12.5 percent would fall short of the size requirements.

Consideration has also been given to making the building more energy efficient. Cecil’s estimates indicate that, if no changes are made to the existing infrastructure, the district would spend between $350,000 and $700,000 in 2018-19 for heating and ventilation at the school, adjusted for inflation. By contrast, under the new plan, heating and ventilation would run about $250,000 during that same timeframe.

Of the three schools, only Kennebunkport Consolidated would be slightly more expensive than previously envisioned, coming in at just shy of $6 million. Much of the cost is due to a serious lack of energy efficiency, said Cecil, as the school currently is without a continuous thermal barrier; as it is, hot air is pumped to the outside of the building without first being circulated. Under the new plan, air would be circulated through the building six times per hour, thereby bringing it up to code. Other improvements proposed for KCS include the installation of ramps for handicap-accessibility; bathroom access from the gymnasium; and knocking down a wall separating two classrooms near the front of the building, which would allow the new, larger room to be utilized as a multi-purpose space.

Of the three buildings, the plans for MIldred L. Day School are perhaps the most similar to those presented to voters in January. Representing almost $9 million in cost, the plan would call for the demolition of two wings that were built on clay-rich soil, and have been settling steadily over a period of more than 30 years, adding stress to the roof and the building itself. New wings would be built on the land running parallel to Limerick Road ”“ which has considerably less clay in its soil ”“ and the land on which the problem wings currently reside would be used for parking.

Cecil cited studies showing that the settling on the land would continue for at least another 50 to 60 years.

King said that, to achieve these improvements, work needs to be done to get Harriman and Consigli on the same page.

“I feel the proper review will be of great benefit to our communities and our schools going forward,” said King, “and will allow us to have a successful vote on the full package of renovations needed to address the safety issues, and update our schools in a frugal but meaningful way.”

— Staff Writer Jeff Lagasse can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 319 or jlagasse@journaltribune.com.