This fall, voters in Scarborough will likely be faced with a decision regarding two proposed major school renovations.

The Scarborough School Board has proposed a $16.5 million addition and renovations at the Scarborough Middle School. The second project is for the demolition and reconstruction of Wentworth Intermediate School, at a cost of $38.3 million.

This week, the Scarborough Town Council will discuss splitting the projects into two separate referendum questions for the November ballot.

Splitting the two projects is the right way to go because voters should have the chance to have their say on both projects individually. It’s not fair to lump them both into one $54.8 million package and ask voters to choose all or nothing.

Like many places in Maine, voters in Scarborough are growing tired of ever-increasing property taxes, and they are willing to say “no” to projects they don’t think are necessary. Last week’s vote to reject a proposed $6.75 million library expansion should serve as evidence of this.

Typically, Scarborough is a town that supports its schools, and voters are not shy about paying the price for quality. The new high school was one of the largest school projects in the state to be paid for with local tax money.

The situation is the same this time. Both the Middle School and Wentworth projects will not qualify for state money, and voters will be asked to pick up the entire tab for both projects.

And, unlike when the new high school was being proposed, there seems to be some division between the School Board and the Town Council over the projects.

At a meeting last week, some councilors were questioning the scope of parts of the proposals.

Councilor Shawn Babine said he did not see the reasoning behind increasing the size of the classrooms in both buildings. “I think that kids are actually enriched by the quality of the instruction,” he said. “Not by the infrastructure of the school.”

Councilor Sylvia Most asked why it was necessary to add to the large multi-purpose rooms in both schools, especially a 7,500 square foot room at Wentworth. “I’d like to spend some time talking about why we need a large gym, a separate multi-purpose room and a stage,” she said.

Wentworth Principal Ann Mayre Dexter said she felt the extra space was very necessary. “What it does for us is add equity,” she said. “We have some truly inequitable spaces in our building now. We’re talking about physical spaces where kids do not have the space to spread out and do the work they need to do.”

It’s clear there are divided opinions among the councilors and school board members. And if there are divisions there, it’s easy to imagine how divided the residents are.

While some voters will place a priority on having the best schools possible, others will think twice about voting for something that will add to their tax bills.

By splitting the two projects, voters will have more control over how their money is being spent. By applying the principal of “divide and conquer,” it’s more likely that voters will approve at least one of the two projects.

And that’s better than presenting them with the entire $54.8 million price tag, and having them say “no thanks.”

Mike Higgins, assistant editor