NGX editor’s note 10/24/24: Since our interview, MSAD 15 has provided new information at this link, including updated tax impact estimates.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
NGX recently sat down for an extended conversation with MSAD 15 board chair Penny Collins about the District’s bond projects and upcoming referendum vote. We learned a lot and hope others do, too. A tour and public hearing on Tuesday, October 22, at 6 pm at the High School will be an opportunity for residents to learn more firsthand. – J.C. and D.S.
The projects: “Right-sized for our community”
Collins calls the proposed projects and plan “right-sized for our community,” to both address current needs and “serve the kids for the next 50 years.”
The improvements address air quality at four schools and facilities upgrades at the High School, including several that would benefit kids in grades K-12 and the community. All involve “things that are either not fit for purpose or things we don’t have that are standard,” Collins says.
“These are real needs. This is not a glamor project. These are things that every district has. People say we’re trying to be Falmouth or Cumberland. We absolutely are not,” Collins says. “This is basic stuff.”
The project list was developed after a lengthy needs assessment by an 12-person bond committee that was “a great cross-section,” Collins says, with business owners, community members without children in the schools, staff and board members.
Over months, they heard from teachers, administrators, parents, students and the community. As a result, “The needs assessment was made by a lot of stakeholders,” Collins says. It did not come internally from the administration or the school board.
Ultimately, the committee further scaled back the plan, opting for less-fancy materials and finishes, reducing the number of seats in the auditorium from 700 to 450, shrinking the overall footprint of the gym, reducing the number of proposed synthetic turf fields from three to one. The board later made the turf field an option for voters.
The result, Collins says, is a “right-sized” project with “what we actually need and want to ask the community to support.”
Collins acknowledges that the cost is substantial, but a significant state grant and loan, the District’s low debt and per-pupil costs, timing and the way bonds work will help make the bond’s impact more manageable.
Above all, Collins believes the projects are essential for students now and into the future, essential to extend the life of the district’s buildings, and essential as investments in the community.
What’s on the ballot
– Air quality/HVAC improvements (Question 1). This would replace ineffective, outdated HVAC systems in four of the District’s five schools (all but Russell in Gray), bringing them into compliance with air quality standards. It would be funded in part by a State grant and interest-free loan. The work has been independently reviewed, competitively bid, and is ready to go. Learn more.
– Performing arts, cafeteria/kitchen, gym and fields improvements at the High School (Question 2). The High School was built in 1962 and has seen limited improvements since then. A regulation-sized gym and updated locker rooms; music classrooms and a 450-seat theater for all schools’ and community use; a sprinkler system; dedicated cafeteria space and a reconfigured kitchen; grass fields with irrigation; outdoor bathrooms, and added parking. Voters are being asked to authorize up to $57 million for the package. Learn more.
– Synthetic turf option (Question 3). This gives voters the option to approve up to $703,000 toward installing one synthetic turf field–instead of grass–for the main competition field. Learn more.
A very “GNG project”
Collins frames the bond and projects in terms of local values. She has lived in New Gloucester for 20 years and, born in Auburn, in the area for more than 40 years. Her kids—a Middle Schooler and High Schooler—are ninth-generation locals.
Collins says of the community, “We live within our means. We buy what we can afford.” That thrift carries over to the schools.
“Our per pupil spending is so low compared to our neighbors and our performance is so high,” particularly considering how many more GNG students qualify for free and reduced lunch, a factor that can impact student outcomes. “And we also carry the least debt.”
Residents may be unaware of just how low the debt load is: around $550,000 annually in a budget of about $30 million, Collins says, well below the state average.
The debt the District does have will drop off dramatically after 2027-28, “freeing up money in the budget,” as new bond payments come online, Collins says. This bond package would put MSAD 15 in the middle of the pack for debt statewide, she says.
Collins calls the proposed bond work a very “GNG project”: needed, practical, “right-sized” and “within our means.” The project will be “durable, usable, sturdy,” with spaces and finishes designed to be practical, not precious, that will withstand kids’ real-world use. She says it will support “1,800 kids five days week” and “invite in the community.”
“We did our homework. I think we got it right,” Collins says.
“Two years of our household budget”
Collins likens the District’s facilities situation to that of homeowners. The family does their day-to-day maintenance and occasional repairs, but eventually they’ll face a big job, like replacing the roof.
The bond is that big roof job for the District. It’s also a sensible investment, says Collins.
Think of it this way, Collins suggests: “Our school budget is about 30 million dollars a year for our whole district. The bond ask is, all in, about 60 million dollars.”
“Can we put two years’ worth of our household budget towards this really big-ticket item that we will pay back at really low interest rates over a very long time, and spread the costs over a couple generations of kids who will use it, and get another 50-plus years out of this campus?”
“I think when you look at it that way, this is a good value.”
“Things that are not fit for purpose. Things we don’t have.”
Collins stresses that the components of the project are “things that are not fit for purpose or that we don’t have.”
— Topping the ‘not fit for purpose’ list are the HVAC systems. To Collins, the HVAC improvements are “a no-brainer.” It’s work “we have to do for the health of everyone in those buildings and that will keep us from having to close a school.” The State grant and loan package offers the District significant financial help.
— The current gym is unsafe, with bleachers too close to the court. “The gym is considered unsafe, but we’re grandfathered in,” says Collins. “The only reason we’re allowed to have a game is that the gym has been around long enough for them to not apply the rules to us. I don’t find that comforting.”
— The High School’s cafeteria space is inadequate, Collins says. The combination “cafetorium” design has long been rejected as “not functional,” she says. “We’re one of the few districts in the state that still have one.” Students identified the cafeteria experience as “the worst part of their day” when asked during 2022 strategic planning.
— Academic for-credit classes like Chorus and Band are held in old locker rooms. The space can’t accommodate growing interest. Students have to rehearse in shifts because there isn’t enough room, Collins says. The cafetorium stage can’t be used by music or drama students until custodians remove tables needed for cafeteria seating.
— The gym and fields are “overused and overscheduled,” Collins says. More than 30 teams “jockey for space.” Practices run until 9:30 at night. In winter, the lacrosse team practices in the parking lot, risking injury, she says. Baseball has to take batting practice in the gym; batted balls damage the bleachers.
Collins stresses that the bond projects are not the result of neglect or deferred maintenance. If anything, the District has wrung every ounce of use and more from its systems and spaces. The HVAC equipment that will be replaced is original to the buildings. “It had a warranty of 25 years. “It’s been 50+ years, and it’s still running,” says Collins, crediting the Facilities team.
Replacing the HVAC systems will also prevent future problems. “We do not have a mold problem,” Collins says. “That would have been discovered when they did the walk-throughs for ventilation.” But if the equipment isn’t replaced, it may become one.
“The HVAC project is very necessary for health and safety and the longevity of the buildings. It’s just due,” she says. “Other things, like the auditorium, aren’t a failure to take care of something we have. This is a space we’ve never had, that we need.”
Some of the improvements will add functionality. “We need two gyms. We can actually fill them with credit-bearing phys ed classes all day long,” says Collins. She says the gyms would be used by kids across the District and especially for practice schedules for grades 5-12.
Similarly, if voters prefer to stay with all-grass fields, the bond will add irrigation and better drainage, improving the fields’ performance and saving maintenance time and expense. Collins says grass fields would be fine if we had more of them, so they could rest, rotate and recover. But as it is, “We have to keep kids off the fields.” The synthetic turf alternative allows athletes access “sooner and longer,” she says.
Bonds and impacts: not like a home mortgage
Collins says that it’s important for residents to understand how bond borrowing and repayment work. Unlike a home mortgage, bond money isn’t borrowed as a total lump sum at the start, but instead when it’s needed.
In addition, unlike a home mortgage with equal payments over the life of the loan, bond payments go down over time.
Collins also reminds residents that they’re being asked to authorize the District to borrow up to $63 million for all the projects. That figure includes a significant contingency that the District hopes it won’t have to borrow.
Worst case, the bond represents about $4 million in annual debt payments for the first ten years, she says. “The payments will drop off from there.”
Collins calls these numbers “worst case” because they assume the District will use “every penny” of the full authorized bond amounts.
As for the estimated tax impact, the District just released updated figures that take into account Gray’s recent property revaluation. The revaluation results were announced just as MSAD 15’s was rolling out bond information; the new values upended Gray’s median home value and the District’s tax impact calculations for both towns.
Based on valuation data provided by the Towns, if all the questions pass, the new ‘worst case’ estimated tax impact in New Gloucester is an added $2.23 per thousand dollars of property value for the first 10 years. In Gray, the comparable figure is $1.27 per thousand.
In addition to being based on the maximum authorized spend, these ‘worst case’ tax estimates assume the District won’t contribute anything from its annual budget capital accounts or surplus to soften the impact on taxpayers. “It’s not uncommon to put some of our fund balance toward reducing taxpayer load when we do the spring budget process,” says Collins.
Ongoing evaluation and maintenance of facilities
Collins credits the District’s ongoing facilities assessments and investments and an “absolutely crackerjack Facilities team” with extending the life of its buildings and systems. In recent years, the District has spent some $3.4 million annually on maintenance, capital projects and the custodians and maintenance staff to keep up the five schools.
It’s a substantial sum but not enough to cover improvements on the scale of those covered by the bond, Collins notes.
Each year, to inform their capital planning, the board tours the schools and hears what got done over the summer and what’s needed. “Some of the work is done in-house; some we can’t,” Collins says.
Last year, paving was a significant item. A new membrane was put on the High School roof, which should help with snow and water problems, Collins says. Among the projects done in-house, facilities staff are working their way around Dunn replacing its siding themselves and saving the District $70,000, she says.
Unlike school districts in the news for abandoning their buildings, “What we have is very well maintained,” says Collins. “We have five massive properties across two towns that require a lot of work. We’re doing great work with what we have, and we want to keep it going.”
“I don’t want to be a community that tears down or abandons an entire school. I know $60 million is a lot of money. Do you know what’s worse? $120 million for a whole new building, plus you’ve abandoned a derelict building in your district,” Collins says. “I don’t want to see us do that. I don’t think that’s thrifty. I don’t think that’s the Gray-New Gloucester way.”
Facilities: engagement and learning
Collins sees the facilities as inextricably linked to learning, not as ‘extras.’ They help draw students to school and keep them active and engaged, not just during the school day but beyond, she says.
“We want students on campus from 7 am to 8 pm,” feeling safe and participating in activities that foster a sense of belonging and help them discover who they are, Collins says. “Challenging themselves or being on stage or being a captain in a sport, we know translates to the classroom, to ownership, to citizenship.”
“The bell rings for 5th to 12th graders at 2 pm,” Collins says. What to do until 8 pm? That time amounts to “a whole other school day,” as she puts it. “We do not have a rec center or community center for them,” she says. “This is their community center.”
“We are having students engage in community clubs, performing arts, visual arts, sports, government. It’s preparing them for college, it’s preparing them for the work force.”
Long-term community-wide benefits
Collins also views the projects as an investment that makes economic sense. “We care about serving our kids, and we care about education. We also care about growing the kind of community that’s going to attract businesses. They take on more of the tax burden.” That, in turn, can help the towns afford municipal projects, she says.
Beyond that, Collins asks what kind of community we want to live in. “It’s not ‘Oh, the school wants a fancy basketball court.’ It’s ‘Do we want to be a community that attracts and retains growing families and gives kids the experience that makes them want to keep living here?’”
“Maine is bleeding young people,” Collins says. “I want every kid raised in New Gloucester and Gray to feel like it’s someplace they could come back to.”
Facilities are also key to attracting and retaining top administrators and teachers. “We are routinely hiring sharp people. We are getting them from our neighbors. This is not a secret,” says Collins. “We have been a district people want to work in,” she says. “But you’re at a bit of a tipping point. You’re not going to hang on to that if you don’t continue to invest and grow.”
Inviting a conversation
From the beginning of the bond process, Collins has invited community members to have a conversation “about the real work that’s gone into this.” She says, “I’ve been saying at all the public meetings we’ve had, please come to me and talk to me about how I can make this feel like a good idea to you. What does it need to be, to feel like a good idea?”
Collins says she’s had “amazing conversations” with people who took her up on her offer, in person and over email. But on social media, she says the bond has sparked “a lot of really negative misinformation,” as well as suspicion and hostility. “There is no kindness,” she says. “These are adults. Some of them are being rude to children on Facebook.”
“What I’m hearing from folks in the community, which breaks my heart, is ‘I’m really supportive of this and I don’t dare talk about it.’” Collins says, “The tone is so abrasive that people now don’t want to have a conversation. Now the support has to be private.”
More than anything, Collins hopes that community members will educate themselves on the bond before they vote. “If they read up and feel they can’t support it, that’s great, they’ve done their homework. If they do support it, obviously that’s great too.”
If residents have questions or comments, they should turn out for the October 22 tour and public hearing at the High School, Collins says. She also urges residents to read and share the District’s Bond Info website and its Facebook page.
“And people can one-million-percent email me,” Collins says. She’s pcollins@sad15.org
“We have so much to be proud of,” Collins says. “Student achievement is high, the High School is ranked 6th in the state, our students consistently win awards at PATHS (the region’s technical school) and more than 100 students a year take an advanced IB class.”
“Our musicians and singers are All-State performers, our theater kids put out three shows a year,” Collins continues, “and our sports teams are competitive at States and at New England championships.”
“Our District can take justified pride in our students and our schools,” Collins says. “The bond is an opportunity to strengthen our entire community for decades to come, and to me, that’s really exciting.”
— Joanne Cole and Debra Smith
