ROCKLAND, Maine — Several area schools could pay for physical upgrades to improve accessibility, air quality and other health and safety measures with a $5 million state loan to the school district.
Regional School Unit 13 was notified earlier this month that the 13 project proposals the district submitted to the Maine Department of Education were approved for a loan through its School Revolving Renovation Fund. With about 30 percent of the loan being forgiven upfront and the rest of the amount carrying no interest, district officials said it would enable them to improve safety for students and staff.
“It’s a remarkable opportunity because we have to do these projects at some point. They’ve got to get done and to do it with a loan opportunity that is interest free, and a big chunk of it is paid off at the beginning, is great for the taxpayers,” RSU 13 School Board Chair Loren Andrews said.
The district’s finance committee will discuss the possible loan at its meeting next week before sending its recommendations to the school board. Ultimately, the district’s voters would have to approve borrowing the money. If the school board approves sending the question to voters, which Andrews said he believed it would, a referendum vote would likely occur in June.
Six of the project proposals submitted involve bringing areas — such as bathrooms, doors, ramps, walkways and emergency exit routes — at five district schools into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
It is common for schools in Maine to need accessibility improvements that meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards, given that 600 schools in the state were built prior to the law’s passage in 1990.
Over the last five years, RSU 13 has spent about $31 million on capital improvement projects, including the construction of an entirely new school in Owls Head. The bulk of this work focused on reconfiguring schools and making more space within existing facilities in the wake of a district consolidation, according to RSU 13 Business Manager Pete Orne, but not all of the needed improvements could be done with that initial spending effort.
Additionally, in the last six years the district has seen a steep increase in its special education enrollment and the number of students who require accessibility accommodations, which has brought to light some of the disabilities act compliance deficiencies in its schools, Orne said.
“It was another opportunity to see something that you should have seen before but you didn’t have the lenses on to see it,” Orne said.
Last fall, the district had an architect review its facilities to determine what areas need to be brought up to code, all of which will be addressed through the proposed projects.
The COVID-19 pandemic also prompted the district to take a closer look at its facilities, Orne said, especially in terms of trying to find opportunities where air quality can be improved.
Four proposed projects at three schools involve improving air quality through the replacement of old windows, ventilation system upgrades and correcting a drainage issue at an elementary school that has created mold problems.
Other projects the district is looking to tackle with the $5 million include replacing floor tiling at the high school that contains asbestos, and replacing doors that do not close properly at two schools and could pose a safety and security risk.
“Once you’re made aware of a problem it’s really important to address it,” Orne said. “It just became obvious that these were issues that were not going to go away, that we were going to have to find some way of moving forward with some type of capital improvement.”
Orne said he believes he could work out the district’s budget so repayment of the loan does not have an impact on local taxes.