Three schools in Sanford are positioned to receive state funds for new construction or renovation.

The schools were put on the Maine Department of Education’s “approved projects list” Wednesday, and Sanford officials said at least two more schools in town could benefit from the decision.

The state Board of Education approved a total of six projects for funding, including Sanford High School and the adjoining Sanford Regional Technical Center, which together ranked second out of 71 applicants. The town’s Emerson elementary school — built in 1910 — was fourth on the list.

The other approved projects are a high school and an elementary school in Newport, and elementary schools in Corinth and Fryeburg.

No one knows yet how much the six projects will cost. It’s also not clear how much funding will be available. Money for school construction comes out of the state’s general aid to education.

The Department of Education’s staff will work with the school districts to develop solutions to their facility needs, whether that means renovating or replacing buildings.

Sanford Superintendent David Theoharides said the regional technical center, which is connected to Sanford High School by a hallway, serves a much wider area, including students from Marshwood High School, Noble High School, Traip Academy, Massabesic High School, Wells High School and York High School.

The state is expected to pay for construction of a new combined high school and regional technical center, but Theoharides said anything is possible, depending on the state’s analysis of Sanford’s school building needs.

One possibility is for the state to pay for a new high school and regional technical center, and a renovation of the current high school to serve students from the Emerson School as well as Sanford’s Lafayette and Willard elementary schools.

Sanford sought state construction funds for Lafayette and Willard, which got ranked 13th and 36th, respectively, based on need for improvements.

Theoharides said Sanford High, built in the 1970s, does not have enough classroom space for the more than 1,200 students who attend. As a result, the school is surrounded by 12 portable classrooms.

The same is true for the Sanford Regional Technical Center, which has more than 400 students. Several classes have to be held at other sites because the building doesn’t have enough space.

“We just grew too much through the years,” the superintendent said. “And the demand (for the technical center) is huge.”

Emerson “is just worn out,” Theoharides said. The school does not have a gym or a cafeteria.

Don Jamison, chairman of the Sanford School Committee, said his children attended Emerson. He believes the school is either the oldest or second-oldest active school in Maine.

Jamison said the state will send a team to Sanford to evaluate its building needs. The state might even decide it would be best to renovate the high school, rather than build a new one.

“Everyone in town is excited, but there is a lot of conjecture about what the state will allow us to do,” he said.

David Connerty-Marin, spokesman for the Department of Education, said the six schools will be the first to receive funding for construction since 2005.

Over the past three construction cycles, about two-thirds of the projects have been additions or renovations.

Because solutions will vary widely and will require months of investigation, Connerty-Marin said no cost estimates are available.

– Kennebec Journal Staff Writer Susan McMillan contributed to this report.

Staff Writer Dennis Hoey can be reached at 791-6365 or at:

dhoey@pressherald.com

 

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