From asbestos-coated ceilings to a faulty heating system, the South Portland City Council is about to review a list of problems at South Portland High School behind a proposed $56 million renovation project.

On Monday, the school board will present its findings and recommendation to city councilors for rebuilding the 1950s-era high school, which has health, safety and accessibility problems. The workshop meeting is at 7 p.m. at the South Portland Community Center.

“The purpose of this first workshop meeting with the city council is to bring everyone up to speed on the building plans and thoughts behind the project. This is the first go-around for the council to see information from the board of education and architect,” said Steve Bailey, the director of curriculum and assessment who sits on the Secondary Schools Facilities Committee.

Last month, the school board unanimously approved the committee’s recommendation for the $56 million reconstruction project.

City councilors now must decide whether to ask voters to borrow money for the project. The school board is hoping for a citywide bond referendum in November, so it can start the bidding process to choose a construction firm in 2008. But the council also has the option to request changes, delay the plan or reject it.

The last time that voters approved borrowing money for school construction was in 2001. They approved a bond issue for $28 million to renovate the city’s elementary schools. But only $18 million was borrowed because of the phaseout of one school and lower-than-expected construction bids on the others.

If a bond issue passed in 2007 for the high school, homeowners could expect an additional $1.43 for every $1,000 of assessed value, according to the South Portland School Department.

The change in the tax rate is based on a projected 4.5 percent interest rate for a 20-year bond.

With the average South Portland home valued at $240,000, there would be an additional $343 in property taxes in the bond’s first year. Payments would go down in subsequent years, as the principal is paid off.

South Portland School Business Manager Polly Ward cautioned that the figure may be high, because the money would not be borrowed in one lump sum.

Construction at the campus would be done in phases, so that classroom instruction would not be interrupted.

The target date for completing a new school is 2012, meaning that today’s third-graders would be the first class to learn in a completely refurbished school.

Plans call for demolishing and rebuilding most of the classroom space. The rest of the facility would be renovated. The new high school would be built around a center courtyard to allow natural light in classrooms and save on utility costs.

Under the new design plans, school officials would be able to cluster classrooms together based on grade level and core subject areas. Other features would include wireless Internet connections in classrooms; artificial turf in the football stadium; and a second, enclosed gymnasium, while keeping the original gym for practice space.

“This is not the Taj Mahal, but it definitely is a good building plan,” said City Councilor Ralph Baxter Sr., also a member of the Secondary Schools Facilities Committee. “The plan will serve the city well for years to come.”

The 26-member committee worked for two years to identify problems at the 1,000-student high school and come up with the reconstruction plan for addressing them.

The committee’s findings – posted on the school district’s Web site – detail problems with mechanical and fire-safety systems that are near the end of their service life and at risk of failing building codes.

“Basically, we can make anything work, but these systems become very costly to maintain,” said Dave Brochu, director of buildings and grounds at South Portland High School. “We’re compliant as standards go today. But this school building is tired and in need of a lot of upgrades.”

The high school was built in the 1950s, with five or six additions made over the years. Today, many sections are not accessible to students with disabilities, as required by federal law.

Baxter noted that a rebuilt high school – which would accommodate 1,200 students – would better support education needs well into the future.

“Given the land configuration and drainage problems, we have a good building plan,” Baxter said. “This is a reasonable effort.”

Here are other key issues the project would address:

• Building security. There are more than a dozen ways to get into the existing school, with no designated building entrance. The new project calls for a central entrance and lobby, off Mountain View Road.

All access points to the building would be monitored electronically from the main office. A circular driveway in front of the school would allow for buses to pull off the road and park without slowing traffic or causing safety problems.

• Fire-safety. Fire-resistant doors would be installed on all classrooms. Hallways would be shorter than they are now, which would keep smoke from spreading easily through the building if there were a fire.

• Heating and ventilation. A roof-top central heating and cooling system would replace the current steam-heat system, which is 50 years old and breaks down.

The new system would create several heating and cooling zones throughout the building that could be controlled independently to save money and energy. Unused areas of the school would not be heated, for example. The automated system would adjust the temperature based on building use.

• Electrical power. The current system is at capacity and cannot meet the school’s growing demands for electricity.

• Energy efficiency. Problems with the heating system and leaky windows are causing heat loss and higher energy bills. In many classrooms, windows are screwed shut, because the hardware is broken and replacement parts cannot be found. Window panes are not insulated, and in warm weather classrooms are poorly ventilated.

The building project would allow for better insulated exterior walls and windows that are energy-efficient. The new building would use natural lighting and low-energy, low-glare electric lights.

• Asbestos materials. Ceiling and floor tiles in some classrooms contain asbestos. Hallway ceilings also are coated with asbestos. Even minor repairs to the affected areas require costly abatements just to keep teachers and students safe from breathing harmful materials. Teachers are unable to hang mobiles from the ceiling in some areas without disturbing the asbestos and creating a health hazard.

It will cost $972,252 to replace the Beal Gym roof at South Portland High School, according to Dave Brochu, who directs maintenance at the school. The existing tar-and-gravel roof is almost 60 years old and leaks.

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