Voters in South Portland will decide Tuesday whether to borrow $5.8 million to renovate three schools in the city.
The bond would fund upgrades at Memorial and Mahoney middle schools and South Portland High School, where deteriorating conditions recently caught the eye of regional education officials.
The borrowing would upgrade electrical and fire-safety systems at all three schools. It would pay for security systems in all three buildings and bring stairwells up to code at Mahoney and South Portland High.
"The bond is going to do some things that must be done," said Michael Eastman, a member of the school board who supports the proposal.
The bond attracted a vocal opponent: Albert DiMillo repeatedly urged the department to fund the project with cash reserves instead of borrowing. The total cost of the 20-year bond, with interest, comes to about $8.6 million.
DiMillo said school officials plan to spend too much on the middle schools – more than half of the total package – at a time when the high school is in dire need of repair. He has also criticized as wasteful two big items in the bond proposal: a generator for the high school and security systems at all three buildings, which would cost more than $2 million.
School officials say the two are important safety measures. They said the security system would let administrators lock all of a building's doors at once in the event of an emergency.
The poor condition of the high school has begun to attract attention beyond South Portland. In late April, a regional accrediting agency issued a warning to the department about the "serious level of structural decay."
The warning from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges is advance notice that the agency will pull the school's accreditation if it does not improve its facilities.
NEASC officials cited the leaky roof, a lack of hot water in the bathrooms, the outdated electrical system, mold problems and the lack of code compliance.
Superintendent Suzanne Godin acknowledged that the bond will not address all of the issues at the high school, but said it would help show the accrediting agency that the city has taken a first step.
"That would help us in showing NEASC that, as a community, we're moving forward," she said.
Godin said the school department has about $5.6 million in reserves. She said school board members have committed $1.2 million in reserves to fund next year's budget without causing a tax increase, so paying for school maintenance with the reserves is not an option.
Voters also will decide whether to approve the portion of the $39.5 million school budget that is subject to public validation under state law. Godin said the proposal would trim spending by nearly $498,000 and would not trigger a tax increase.
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Community Center, the city's sole polling place for this election.
Voters will decide on two other issues:
• Whether to borrow $3 million for renovations to the Long Creek pump station and other sewer improvements.
• Whether to amend the city charter to allow the city to participate in state revolving loan programs, one of which city officials hope to tap for the pump station improvements. The charter now says that bonds must be sold at public sale. Voters will decide whether to give the City Council authority to waive the requirement with a two-thirds vote.
The city needs at least 3,165 voters – 30 percent of the turnout of the 2006 gubernatorial election – to approve the change for it to take effect, said City Clerk Susan Mooney.
Staff Writer Elbert Aull can be contacted at 791-6325 or at:
eaull@pressherald.com
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