ROCKLAND, Maine — The regional vocational school board is scheduled to vote Monday evening on final design plans for a new $25 million technology center.
The Region 8 Cooperative Board is scheduled to meet for the vote at 7 p.m. at the Mid-Coast School of Technology. Final designs and cost estimates have been provided by Lavallee Brensinger Architects for the new school that would provide career and technical education.
The total $25 million in projects costs would be divided up between the school districts served by the technology center. The main contributors to the project would be the Five-Town Community School District based in Camden, Regional School Unit 40 based in Waldoboro and RSU 13 based in Rockland.
The Five-Town CSD is responsible for 34 percent of the vocational region’s costs. The percentage varies from year to year based on the high school enrollments of the sending schools. RSU 40 pays 28 percent of the costs, and RSU 13 pays 27 percent. Other schools that are served by the technology center are St. George, Vinalhaven, North Haven, Islesboro and Lincoln Academy.
A breakdown of the enrollment shows SAD 40 sends 111 Medomak Valley High School students to the vocational school for a half-day of classes, RSU 13 sends 108 students from Oceanside High School for a half-day, and the Five-Town district sends 72 students from Camden Hills Regional High School. Twenty-six students from other areas also are enrolled in half-day programs.
Enrollments vary from the sending schools from year to year depending on a variety of factors including graduation requirements at each school and scheduling priorities in guidance departments, Executive Director Beth Fisher said.
“The biggest impediment students have to attending are scheduling issues, many of which can be overcome if guidance counselors work with our student services director to make the scheduling work,” she said.
Each of those sending high schools also have students in cooperative programs administered by the Mid-Coast School of Technology with 86 enrolled from Oceanside, 32 from Medomak, and 21 from Camden Hills. She said the total enrollment including cooperative programs is 499. Adult education classes also are provided at the school.
A timeline for the project calls for the 19 towns covered by the vocational region to vote on a referendum Nov. 8 to borrow $25 million for the new center. If approved by voters, the project then would go out for bids in July 2017 with a contract awarded the following month. Construction would then begin with the new school expected to be ready for occupancy in September 2019.
The new 90,000-square-foot school would be situated on the 7-acre waterfront parcel where the current technology school is located on Main Street in Rockland at the Owls Head town line. The current building would be demolished during the summer of 2019.
The 57,000-square-foot building was built in 1968 as a marine repair shop. The Region 8 Cooperative Board purchased the property in 1976, and the vocational center opened for students in 1977. Lavallee Brensinger concluded in a report to the vocational school board in January 2015 that the Rockland building was not worth renovating.