Administrators and board members with Maine School Administrative District 1 are starting to seek feedback on a conceptual plan that could consolidate school buildings in Presque Isle.
The SAD1 board of directors unanimously voted to authorize the administration to start developing and seeking feedback on a plan to close Pine Street Elementary and revamp the three other schools in Presque Isle in a bid to reduce long-term costs amid declining enrollment.
For more than a year, board member Paul Saija, assistant superintendent Clint Deschene and others on a building and grounds committee have been analyzing the issue of “right-sizing” and formulating a range of options.
The preliminary concept they’ve put forward would involve closing Pine Street, moving grades K-5 to the current middle school and consolidating grades 6-12 at the current high school, while repurposing Zippel Elementary into a multi-use building that could host administration, career and technical education and more. Mapleton Elementary would continue to operate, serving K-5 students from Castle Hill, Chapman and Mapleton.
“We’re still vetting ideas. This is a concept,” said Deschene.
The effort is driven by the reality that in Presque Isle (and elsewhere) education costs keep rising while enrollment is declining. Student enrollment fell by more than 15 percent in the last decade to around 1,800 students today, and that’s on track to decline to less than 1,600 by 2023, according to district estimates. Meanwhile, 10 percent of the district’s budget — some $2 million annually — is devoted just to keeping the buildings open, powered and heated, Deschene said.
The board’s vote authorizes the administration to start pursuing the repurposing idea in earnest and gather feedback from staff and community.
Further votes by the board and the five district municipalities would be needed to approve a full plan, and at the earliest, the public would vote next summer on a proposal that would take effect in fall 2018, Deschene said.
It would be an extensive process, but keeping the current buildings operating is expensive, which is why they are starting to flesh out ideas now, Deschene said
“The middle and high schools are the most expensive buildings to operate, and that’s because we have the fewest kids per square foot,” Dechene said. The middle school, the most modern of the district’s buildings at 12 years old, is running at about half of its capacity.
The closure and renovations could cost an estimated $5 million to $6 million, although over time
It could pay for itself at least in part with the savings from reduced operational and transportation costs, Deschene said.
Over the next few months, the building and grounds committee will take input on the concept from teachers and other staff and then seeking community input in the spring. Staff will also be visiting other school districts that have a two-building model with grades K-5 and 6-12, including RSU 29 in Houlton.
Deschene and others are also keeping an eye of the possibility of building a new school in the future, as Maine’s state government begins another round of financing for school construction. That application and approval process, however, could take between 10 and 20 years, and right now, buildings in “many other districts are in far worse shape,” Deschene said.
Pine Street would be the first SAD 1 school closed in more than a decade, and the building and property would be offered to Presque Isle or could be sold by the district after it’s closed, Deschene said. Presque Isle’s Gouldville Elementary was closed in 1998, Westfield Elementary School in 1999, and Cunningham Middle School in 2004. The Cunningham building was demolished, sold and lot is now home to duplex townhomes. The Gouldville school was repurposed to house Aroostook County Action Program’s Head Start Program, while the Westfield Elementary building is privately owned and remains vacant.
In other SAD 1 news, Presque Isle High School’s dual credit program with the University of Maine Presque Isle is continuing to grow and allowing dozens of high school students to save time and money by taking advanced courses that qualify for college credit.
“It helps them prepare for college in a safe environment,” said PIHS Principal Ben Greenlaw.
Currently, PIHS offers 10 upper-level math and science classes that qualify for dual credit, and 89 students this year are enrolled in at least one dual credit class, with some taking two. Most are juniors and seniors, and one freshman is actually taking a college-level algebra class, Greenlaw said.
The program allows high-schoolers to take classes they would have to take in college and earn credit, through a flexible agreement with UMPI that doesn’t require extra textbooks or testing, Greenlaw said.
The credits earned through the program are guaranteed as transferable throughout the University of Maine system, and some are accepted at colleges such as Colby, Bates and Bowdoin.
At a time when higher education’s costs are leaving many young people in debt, PIHS students can “get a great deal,” and shave thousands of dollars off their total college costs, Greenlaw said. A three-credit course is $45 for PIHS students, or $660 for UMPI students, he said.
PIHS is also planning to offering computer science courses. This will make PIHS one of 26 schools in the state with dedicated computer science courses.
“The curriculum is really focused on trying to get entry-level kids into computer science,” said Carson Dobrin, a PIHS science teacher who’ll be teaching some of the classes. “We’ve got all of these companies in Maine that are hiring computer scientists, but they’re hiring from outside of Maine.”
