HODGDON, Maine — Plans for a regional high school for Houlton, Hodgdon and Southern Aroostook high schools continue to move forward, even though the project needs new approval from the state Board of Education.
All three school districts — RSU 29, SAD 70 and RSU 50 — have been working on a possible regional high school since the state awarded them up to $120 million for the project.
On Monday, Dec. 9, the SAD 70 school board unanimously approved spending $20,430 from its current school year budget for its share of the startup costs to bring the project to a bond referendum vote at some point.
In November, RSU 84 (East Grand) pulled out of the consortium — citing the distance Danforth would be from any new school, as well as the negative economic impact it would have on the community as mitigating factors — thus requiring the plan to be re-approved by the state.
The funds are needed to cover the startup costs for the referendum process and requests for proposals for the engineering and design phases. The funds also would be used for consultant fees for setting up committees to examine the scope of the project, SAD 70 Superintendent Steve Fitzpatrick said.
“In order to get the ball rolling for the regional high school plan, these funds are necessary,” he said. “There was nothing in the grant that upfronted any amounts of money. We need to spend money to get the money.”
The move did not come without discussion and questions from board members.
Board member Curtis Harrison expressed reservations about approving funds without knowing for sure that the state was going to approve the project now that East Grand has dropped out. Fitzpatrick said it was his understanding that if the project was not given the green light from the state, none of the funds for the startup would be spent.
“We won’t spend anything until the state approves [the project again],” Fitzpatrick said.
The RSU 29 board approved spending up to $55,000 for the startup costs with little discussion during a meeting in November.
RSU 50 (Southern Aroostook) has yet to approve any funds for its share.
“The RSU 50 board has discussed, but have not made a decision yet on approving money for the regional high school project,” Superintendent Jon Porter said. “The board would like information prior to approving money for the project. We are working on getting more information and finding some answers to their questions about the project.”
According to the minutes of the RSU 50 board meeting in November, that board has suggested a joint meeting with all three school boards in attendance to further discuss the issue.
The Region 2 board’s share of the startup costs is estimated at $6,175. That board also has not voted to approve the funds because its next meeting is not until Dec. 17, according to Dave Keaton, director of Region Two School of Applied Technology.
In 2017, the schools agreed to submit a proposal for a regional high school system. The southern Aroostook conglomerate also featured pieces with the University of Maine at Presque Isle and Northern Maine Community College for post-secondary education.
The intent of the state’s pilot project is to encourage neighboring school districts with declining enrollments and increasing expenses to work together to combine resources and save costs.
On Oct. 21, approximately 23 representatives from the consortium toured the Sanford School District, which includes a new, state-of-the-art high school with a Career and Technical Education Center to better understand the scope of the project.
The group has until calendar year 2022 to get through the site selection process, vote on concept approval and conduct a final referendum for the project.
