FREEPORT – Its board chairman back in the fold, Regional School Unit 5 now looks to two committees to lay the groundwork for a renovation of Freeport High School and the hiring of a new superintendent.

Nelson Larkins of Freeport, who had been board chairman when he lost his bid for re-election on Nov. 4, is at the helm once again. Larkins, the only candidate to replace Peter Murray, who had resigned his seat, made his return on Dec. 10, and defeated Michelle Ritcheson of Durham in an unusual board vote for chairman.

Meanwhile, the school board has authorized co-Superintendent William Michaud to name the 21 members of the Freeport High School Building Advisory Committee, and the 12 members of the Superintendent Search Committee.

The committee, working with PDT Architects of Portland, will be planning a $14.6 million renovation of the high school, as authorized in November 2013 by RSU 5 voters. The Freeport High School Building Advisory Committee, named Monday, comprises three teachers, three administrators, nine parents/community members, three students, two school board members, RSU 5 Finance Director Kelly Wentworth and Michaud, who is an ex-officio member. The committee will elect a chairman at the Jan. 7 meeting. Monthly meetings will be held from 8-9 a.m. at the high school.

Committee members include: Teachers David Smail, David Watts and Margarete Schnauck; administrators Brian Campbell, Craig Sickels and Dennis Ouellette; parents/community members Lois Kilby-Chesley, Kevin Nadeau, John Simoneau, Michelle Peacock, Catherine Breer, Julie Coleman, David Steckler, Ben Jamo and Tim Giddinge; students Lucy Zachau, Chandler Wyman and Tatum Erlandson; board of directors facility subcommittee member John Morang; and board of directors representative Kate Brown.

The Superintendent Search Committee will work to find a replacement for Michaud and Mike Lafortune, the interim co-superintendents who agreed to serve for one year following the resignation of Shannon Welsh.

Superintendent Search Committee members include teachers Heather Perry, Susan Fitzgerald and Mary Porter; parents/community members Laurie Poissonnier, John Jaques and Jon Morris; administrators Will Pidden, Beth Willhoite and Lisa Demick; and board members Candy Decsipkes, Beth Parker and Naomi Ledbetter.

The renovation bond, which was on hold while Freeport negotiated withdrawal from RSU 5, became viable again when Freeport voters decided against withdrawal in a close vote on Nov. 4.

Michaud has told architect Lyndon Keck of PDT Architects that the value of the $14,638,009 bond passed more than a year ago will be less now, due to inflation.

“‘Value engineering’ is part of the project because of inflation,” Michaud said. “With inflation, you’re going to have to take some things out.”

The Building Committee will study an original plan that includes a new two-story building where the school’s industrial arts building now stands. The new section will include classrooms, a cafeteria, a kitchen and a music room.

Michaud said plans call for the project to go out to bid next summer, and construction to begin in the fall.

Giddinge, a Building Committee member from Pownal, said last Friday that, given the decreased value of the bond, coupled with a projected decrease in enrollment at Freeport High, the committee should begin by taking a broad view of the project.

“The way that that bond passed, it was an ‘up-to’ that amount of money,” said Giddinge, who is chairman of the Pownal Board of Selectmen. “We don’t have to spend all of that money. The first thing that we need to do is to review the whole project. I would definitely not be in favor of going back to the towns for more money. It’s going to be the committee’s responsibility to be sure that we get our money’s worth.”

Kimberly LaMarre of Freeport sat on the original Freeport High School Advisory Building Committee. LaMarre’s involvement in improving Freeport High goes back to the fall of 2010, when she and other parents began to identify needed renovations. The school board sanctioned the group as a committee in the spring of 2011. The board gave the committee a charge, and committee members began interviewing architects in the fall of 2011.

“There was a definite sense of overcrowding at the school at that time,” said LaMarre, who is not on this year’s committee.

That original Building Committee had information from the New England School Development Council that projected growth at Freeport High. The committee devised a “Master Plan,” which identified a major impediment to growth in the center of the building. The science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) spaces, the robotics program, choral classes, student services, kitchen, cafeteria, administration and human resources spaces were judged to be inadequate.

“We put a plan together,” LaMarre said. “With that in mind, you have to build what the community wanted and voted upon. The community weighed in on what they want.”

LaMarre said that the high school renovation project is a “good thing for the community to rally around.”

Consultant Ron Barker, meanwhile, has developed a timeline for the Superintendent Search Committee, which first meets on Jan. 6. The deadline for applicants’ submissions is Dec. 30.

The committee is to conduct its first round of interviews in early-to-mid January, and the second round late in the month and in early February. The school board is scheduled to select finalists for superintendent on Feb. 11. Site visits will follow. The board would select a new superintendent in executive session on March 11, and make that selection public on March 25.

The next RSU 5 superintendent will assume office on July 1.

Larkins became chairman again on Dec. 10 by a 686-312 weighted vote taken by secret ballot. The votes of the six Freeport board members are given greater weight, followed by the three Durham members and the two Pownal members.

Following the written vote, Michaud advised the board that its votes must be made public, according to statute. In a show of hands, all 11 board members voted for Larkins.

Beth Parker of Freeport nominated Larkins, while Vice Chairwoman Kate Brown of Pownal nominated Ritcheson.

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A CLOSER LOOK

The Regional School Unit 5 Superintendent Search Committee will conduct its first meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 6, at 6:30 p.m., at a site to be determined.

The Freeport High School Building Advisory Committee first meets on Wednesday, Jan. 7, at 8 a.m., at Freeport High School. More information on the renovation proposal is available at www.renovatefhs.org.

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