PORTLAND — Wednesday is the first day of school for some in Gray-New Gloucester, where the high school is by far the oldest and least renovated building in the district.
A proposal to upgrade several spaces is on the November ballot.
The proposed school improvements will appear on three bond questions in November, but the largest by far asks for $57 million to renovate and expand several spaces in and outside of the high school.
“It’s nice right now, but when it comes to the middle of fall, it becomes so muddy, and it’s so dangerous,” Gray-New Gloucester High School junior Ella Kenney said. “A bunch of my friends have gotten hurt playing soccer there.”
This November bond question, if passed, would upgrade and expand the athletic fields to avoid getting overuse and build a new gymnasium.
“Last season, we had like a week where we couldn’t even practice on one side of the court because there’s leakage,” Gray-New Gloucester High School junior Jackson Libby said.
The “cafetorium” would also see upgrades.
Right now, it’s overcrowded at lunchtime and negatively impacting the school’s drama performances.
“It’s splinters, you can’t go on it barefoot or without very protective shoes on,” Gray-New Gloucester High School junior Quinn Coreau said. “And It’s also very hard with our cafeteria. We have food, gunk, kids eating on the stage, which just makes it disgusting.”
All of this comes with a price tag of $57 million to taxpayers.
For a $350,000 home, residents in Gray-New Gloucester should expect a rise between $600 and $750 in annual property taxes.
But those numbers could go down.
Superintendent Craig King hopes the cost will be closer to $43 million.
“But the bond is built in at $57 million. And that is for a 20 percent contingency, if for some reason there’s an override, if for some reason there is extra expense, unanticipated,” King said. “Construction projects are very expensive, so there are concerns about what the cost is.”
“I think a strong school district makes for a strong community,” MSAD15 School Board Chair Penny Collins said.
— View the video and read the story at wgme.com at this link
