CASCO, Maine — School leaders and parents are trying to decide how to solve overcrowding in one district. One solution is a multimillion-dollar renovation project to reopen an old school in School Administrative District 61.
The superintendent and school board in SAD 61 say the project is long overdue. They say they need another elementary school to solve the overcrowding at Songo Locks School, but many residents are worried the $9.6 million price tag is just too much.
The gym was filled with residents Tuesday night at Lake Region. The school board went over the project that would move 250 students from grades three, four and five to the Crooked River School. The project will renovate classrooms, make them handicap accessible and improve security. The project will raise taxes — between $12 and $32 on the average home.
The superintendent and the school board say the cost would be well worth it; others say it will just be too much.
“Unfortunately some of this has happened, because in the beginning there was a price tag floated around for $500,000,” Denise Olsen of Sebago said. “They could get those kids into that school and alleviate the problem immediately, and $500,000 was much more palatable than $9.6 million.”
“We were asked over and over again do it once do it right and do it for the future,” SAD 61 Superintendent Alan Smith said. “This is a building and a future building that will serve our students educationally and serve their kids educationally 40 to 50 years from now.”
There was some worry that if Crooked River reopens, the district would close Sebago Elementary School; the superintendent reiterated Tuesday night that is not in the plans. Residents ultimately will get the decide on this project when they head to the polls Dec. 8.