After hearing pleas from both students and parents, the Regional School Unit 5 board of directors voted 9-2 last week to send a borrowing proposal for a $16.9 million expansion of Freeport High School to the June ballots in Freeport, Pownal and Durham.

The project would renovate the school, as well as add new classrooms, an outdoor track and an athletic field. If approved, a 31,000-square-foot addition would be constructed to replace the industrial arts building on the northwest side of the school. The renovations would be designed to absorb any potential population growth and allow the school to build a third story in the future.

Pownal board members Ruth Broene and Kathyrn Brown voted against the proposal at the Jan. 23 meeting.

The vote came after parents, students and the general public addressed the board with urgent pleas to allow the fate of the expansion to be put in the hands of RSU 5 residents. While classroom improvements were mentioned, the replacement of the athletic fields was front and center on the minds of the public, especially students.

“We’ve had 22 canceled or postponed games in the past two years due to the field conditions. This is far too many,” Freeport High School sophomore Harry Stivers told the board.

Other students echoed Stivers’ complaints, and suggested the lack of a modern athletic field puts Freeport High at a competitive disadvantage.

“People make jokes about our field,” said Jocelyn Levy. “It affects pride and I think pride is important to help building a program.”

Parents and educators spoke of overcrowding, especially during lunch, as students are forced to fend for themselves in a small cafeteria.

“This is a great building, but I think it’s done its job,” Freeport resident Tom Whalen told the board. “It was built to educate kids of Freeport in 1961, a much different time.”

The nearly $17 million price tag of the expansion would be funded entirely by the RSU 5 towns and paid for by a 20-year bond. RSU 5 Finance Director Kelly Wentworth said for each $1,000 paid in tax, residents should expect an increase of $73 in Durham, $47 in Freeport and $72 in Pownal. The figures, said Wentworth, are based on an initial $1.5 million payment in the next tax year should the voters approve the expansion. Wentworth cautioned that the costs would adjust as the process continues and the project goes out to bid for proposals from contractors.

The project also includes an update to the school’s computer lab, a reconfiguring of the main entrance, a new location for bus drop-off and a new kitchen and food court to replace the cafeteria, which would be converted into a new school library.

If approved, construction would likely begin in 2014.

In voting against the measure, Broene and Brown both cited the overall cost and burden to Pownal taxpayers.

“We know that whenever anything is approved by the schools, the impact to Pownal is greater,” Brown told the board. “I feel the inequity needs to be addressed before I can vote in favor of this. There’s a real feeling of helplessness in our town.”

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