Our current primary schools have outlived their useful lives. Not only are we beyond capacity for the students we currently serve at our three primary schools and middle school, we won’t be prepared to support the COVID baby boom coming in a few years. Across our school facilities, we have 30 portables serving the needs of our students. This is simply unacceptable and embarrassing. Our schools are nearly 60 years old, and weren’t designed to support the type of programming required to educate our students in the 21st century. We can do better. We must do better.
On Nov. 18, the School Building Committee had their second workshop with the Town Council to learn more about the progress of their strategic solution to address our school facility needs. The recommended solution approved by the School Board prior to COVID was a unified solution on a new site, rather than renovating our three existing primary schools. The justification is based on the cost effectiveness and operational efficiencies of a unified school, the operational challenge of multi-year renovations (e.g. where do the children go when a building is being renovated?), and that the current sites are too small to expand to meet the demands and future needs of our community. The solution currently being proposed by the School Building Committee will unify the three existing primary schools into one school and move third grade from Wentworth to the new K-3 school. Wentworth will go from serving grades 3-5 to grades 4-6, and the Middle School will serve grades 7-8, removing the need to house the entire sixth grade class in portables as they do currently.
The site, design and cost of the new unified school is currently in process. Site selection is targeted to be announced in early 2023, with the design and cost to follow and be incorporated into our 2024 budget process. The construction cost estimate for a unified school solution is currently estimated in a range from $117 to $152M. The School Building Committee is endeavoring to provide all the information needed for a November 2023 referendum vote. It is important that the community take the time to get informed and involved as the solution is developed. Other local communities recently rejected school projects because the community did not think the solution was justified or met the need. The Building Committee needs your help to ensure the solution appropriately meets Scarborough’s needs, because the space crisis is already here and will only continue to deteriorate, and building will only become more expensive the longer this solution is delayed.
What questions or concerns do you have? The Committee, the Town Council, and the Board of Education want to hear from you: It just feels too big — how can you build a school that large for kindergartners and make it feel small? This sounds like more traffic — where is the site and what will be done to manage traffic flow? Can we afford this, how much will it cost to build and maintain and what will that mean for my taxes? I love my community school — what will happen to the three existing primary school sites to continue the community feel? Money is tight and we just voted no on a Library expansion — how are we already asking for a new school? The community asked for a community center with a pool — how could that fit into this project? These are all fair questions to ask, and questions that must be answered in the coming months.
There are many ways you can get more informed and involved:
1. Learn more at the website: https://www.scarboroughschools.org/new-sps-building-project
2. Follow the project on Facebook at “Scarborough Public Schools New School Building Project”
3. Attend a School Building Committee Meeting and share your input or listen: https://www.scarboroughschools.org/new-sps-building-project/meetings
4. Email the School Building Committee at buildingsteeringcommittee@scarboroughschools.org
5. Join a subcommittee for the School Building Committee — a new finance subcommittee is being established.
6. Email the Town Council and School Board with your questions and concerns
7. Attend or watch a future Town Council/School Board Workshop on the Project
8. Read future articles in the Leader on this project
This is going to be the largest investment our community will likely ever see. It’s important everyone takes the time to learn, so when the time comes you can make an informed vote if this is the appropriate solution for you and for Scarborough.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Scarborough Town Council.
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