TOPSHAM

Since 1973, students attending Mt. Ararat High School have faced the challenge of learning in classrooms without walls.

Now, voters in School Administrative District 75 are invited to a public hearing Wednesday on the proposed $60.7 million new school construction project.

The public hearing will start at 6 p.m. on Wednesday in the Commons of Mt. Ararat High School. Thursday is the snow date for the hearing.

School officials will explain the two referendum questions voters will see on the pivotal March 7 referendum ballot.

The first article asks voters if they favor authorizing the SAD 75 board of directors to construct and equip a new high school on the existing campus at a cost not to exceed $60,055,671. If approved, the question also authorizes the board to issue bonds and notes not to exceed $59,695,139 and to fund the balance of project costs with $39,532 previously appropriated in the district’s operating budget, $119,220 in rebates from Efficiency Maine and $201,780 from grants and donations.

In a separate article, voters will be asked to authorize the board of directors to issue additional bonds or notes, in an amount not to exceed $649,000, to include artificial turf instead of grass turf for the competition athletic field to be constructed as part of the project.

For the $6.8 million in construction costs that don’t qualify for state subsidy, all four towns in SAD 75 will share in the cost of annual principal and interest payments based on the district’s local school funding formula.

This will result in an average increase of between $33 and $46 in annual property taxes over the 20- year life of the bond for a typical home. Because Harpswell doesn’t receive state subsidy for school construction as a result of its high valuation, the owner of a typical home worth $425,000 could see a total annual tax increase of $106.

The proposed project includes 40 classrooms, nine science classrooms, a 17,000-square-foot gymnasium, a forum lecture hall, seminar rooms, art rooms, a centrally-located main entrance, a learning commons and a light-filled cafeteria. There will also be a competition field and track, multi-purpose fields, a baseball field and a total of 422 parking spaces.

The Building Committee is recommending the district exclude a crumb rubber infill on the artificial turf field because there isn’t enough conclusive information regarding whether or not the material causes cancer.

The new school will feature geothermal heating, extra insulation, and additional structural roof steel to support future solar photovoltaic generation, said Superintendent Brad Smith.

“Perhaps the most significant difference between our current learning environment and the new learning environment will be classrooms with walls,” Smith said. “The current ‘open concept’ is a significant impact on some learners, and less on others. But the Building Committee heard from parents, students and staff the desire to have ‘walls and windows’.”

Smith said the new school creates flexibility the current building lacks, and spaces designed for today’s learner such as maker spaces — reflecting the need for students to be able to work in group settings, collaborating in learning as adults often do in the work environment.

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