Kim Sorensen waits to cast her ballot at the South Portland Community Center on Tuesday. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

Schools in southern Maine saw some wins on Election Day, overcoming public skepticism about whether millions of dollars in new construction bonds could win in a tight economy.

The results from Tuesday’s election in four school districts ranged from an all-out rejection of major renovation projects to a quiet acceptance that it’s time to invest in students.

In several communities – Cape Elizabeth, Gray and New Gloucester – voters rejected expensive bonds for campus improvements. But smaller bonds, like South Portland’s $1 million for renovations and $3 million for security upgrades, did pass. In Gorham, voters surprised their superintendent by supporting a major school construction bond while saying no to one to redo tennis courts.

Voters in South Portland and Gray-New Gloucester soundly defeated athletic facility projects, which were controversial among voters because of their cost and potential environmental impact of new turf.

Bonds are a common strategy for school districts because of Maine’s limited resources for school building projects, but taxpayers are often reluctant to take on more of the cost share for schools.

Even within districts, voters weren’t consistent on support for bonds: No southern Maine community that voted on multiple bonds supported or rejected all of them.

CAPE ELIZABETH

More than half of Cape Elizabeth voters turned down a $95 million bond, with the measure failing by fewer than 200 votes. The money would have gone to build a new middle school, upgrade and expand the elementary school and renovate the high school.

“Overall I am heartened by the extremely close vote on the Middle Ground school project design,” Superintendent Chris Record told the South Portland Sentry. “We came within 166 votes of building the first new school in Cape in over 50 years.”

The bond had been a hot-button issue in the coastal community, where voters rejected a similar, but more expensive $116 million bond two years ago.

The proposal grew out of a $77 million plan drawn up by the School Building Advisory Committee over 18 months. But four of the committee’s nine members supported a more expensive bond that included a new middle school and the price tag grew to $89 million. Then the Town Council added $4.8 million for renovations at the town’s original school, built in 1934.

That proved to be too high a cost for voters.

However, Cape did pass a small $1.65 million project to put solar panels on the middle school with 71% support.

GORHAM

Gorham Superintendent Heather Perry was very confident last month that the district’s two bond projects would fail. Gorham had a recent history of rejecting its school budget, and she knew taxpayers weren’t anxious to take on more costs.

But Tuesday night, 58% of voters said yes to $12.7 million for classroom and cafeteria expansions at the high school, and a new HVAC system at the middle school.

Perry said Wednesday she was very pleased with the vote, which will allow the high school to double its cafeteria capacity and the middle school to replace its near-failing heating and cooling system. The bonds, however, are a temporary solution as the district applies for state funding for three completely new facilities, including the high school.

“This will allow us to address some of the capital needs of our schools moving forward while we await the (Maine Department of Education) capital application approval process that is currently underway,” Perry said.

Gorham voters didn’t support the district’s second bond project, $3.4 million to renovate and relocate unusable tennis courts. That bond failed by a 20-point margin, with 60% against.

GRAY-NEW GLOUCESTER

Voters in Gray and New Gloucester rejected a $57 million bond for high school campus renovations at MSAD 15, with only 43% supporting the measure. That bond included six projects at Gray-New Gloucester High School: a new auditorium space, renovation of the cafeteria, a new gymnasium, athletic field renovations, parking lot improvements and a new sprinkler system.

The district’s web page about the project explains that it settled on the bond package after hearing from more than 40 focus groups, which found wide discontentment with the high school’s cafeteria, athletic spaces and artistic performance spaces.

Voters also gave a resounding no to a $703,000 project to add a synthetic multi-purpose field to the district’s athletic facilities, which would only have been applicable if the construction bond passed.

District voters did support a smaller item on the ballot, a $9 million project ($6.5 million of which is covered by state grants) to make indoor air quality improvements at four schools. Fifty-six percent of voters said yes to that project.

SOUTH PORTLAND

South Portland voters were again mixed in their support for major construction projects.

A $12.3 million athletic complex project was rejected with 8,199 votes against and 6,394 approving.

District officials said parts of the track and field are unusable, and the track is not competition size. The district wanted to upgrade the track, install an artificial turf field, build bathrooms and create a new concession stand. But some residents were troubled that the bond followed an increase in property taxes, after a citywide revaluation adjusted home values.

“We had nearly 6,400 voters express support for major stadium renovations, so it’s evident that community members recognize that substantial need,” Superintendent Tim Matheney told the South Portland Sentry Wednesday. “We will be developing next steps for our deteriorating athletic complex with a team of community members in the next few weeks.”

But voters gave the green light on the city’s other two bond projects: 73% supported a $3 million safety improvement bond for security cameras, secure vestibules and exterior lighting at elementary schools; and 76% supported a $1 million bond to make improvements to aging infrastructure, like deteriorating roofs at three faculties.