AUGUSTA — The Augusta school board voted 5-0 Thursday to apply for state money to replace the Lillian Parks Hussey Elementary School.
The school was built in 1954 and is the oldest of the city’s four public elementary schools.
But even if funding is approved, it would not necessarily result in a new school, Superintendent James Anastasio told board members.
The application cites the need for new classroom space in the city to replace aging classrooms at Hussey, Anastasio said. The state could push Augusta to move Hussey’s students to other schools or find other ways to add modern classroom space.
“The end result may not be anything we think is going to happen,” Anastasio said. The state “may ask us to look at consolidation. They may say they don’t want four elementary schools.”
He said it also isn’t clear whether the current Hussey elementary site would accommodate a new school building.
Augusta’s previous application for funds to replace the same school was ranked 17th on the state’s funding priority list in 2010-2011. The state funded 16 projects, leaving Augusta out.
The next state school construction funding cycle is coming up in 2017-2018, with a new priority list expected in the summer of 2018, according to Rachel Paling, director of communications for the Department of Education.
From that list, Paling said, the department, its commissioner and the state Board of Education will decide which schools get funding based on the amount of money available and other factors.
“We’ll just keep our fingers crossed,” said Deborah Towle, Ward 2 board member.
John Pucciarelli, director of buildings and grounds, has told board members that Hussey’s problems include bathrooms and floors so old they’re hard to clean, worn-out plumbing and a lack of ventilation. He said classroom ventilation at the school consists of holes in the coat closets that vent to the roof..
The state’s application deadline for funding is April 14.
Hussey was built as part of an effort to accommodate baby boomers, according to municipal documents.
Even if Augusta’s application is successful, construction wouldn’t necessarily begin right away.
The highest-ranked project on the 2010-2011 priority list, Regional School Unit 64’s Morison Memorial School, was approved in 2012. The last approved project on the 2010-2011 priority list, Auburn’s Edward Little High School, was approved for funding in 2016, and construction has not yet begun.
The last public school built in Augusta was Cony High School, which opened in 2006.
Keith Edwards can be contacted at 621-5647 or at:
kedwards@centralmaine.com
Twitter: kedwardskjj
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