Failure of $75 million school bond has RSU 21 officials seeking alternatve

Many agree that the resounding defeat means that a new plan will have to be changed substantially.

By Gillian Graham ggraham@pressherald.com
Staff Writer

http://www.pressherald.com/news/Failure_of__75_million_school_bond_has_RSU_21_officials_seeking_alternatve_.html

A resounding vote Tuesday against a $75 million school renovation plan in Regional School Unit 21 leaves school officials in the unenviable – but not unheard of – position of trying to come up with a new plan to sell to voters.

The three-school renovation bond, believed to be the largest ever proposed in the state, was turned down by 69 percent of voters in Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Arundel. Despite that vote, school officials say they will go back to voters with a revised plan because the problems at Kennebunk High School, Kennebunkport Consolidated School and Mildred L. Day School in Arundel are only going to get worse.

In recent years, officials in South Portland, Scarborough and Freeport have presented – and received approval for – scaled-back school building projects that were initially rejected by voters.

Voters in RSU 21 could be asked to consider a new renovation plan as early as June.

“We will seek input from the community about what level of expenditures will be acceptable,” said Superintendent Andrew Dolloff. “The issues aren’t going to go away.”

The RSU 21 vote – which fueled passionate debate across the district – was not as close as some in the area predicted. More than two-thirds of voters in the three towns voted against the plan, sending a clear message about a proposal opponents said was too expensive for taxpayers to shoulder alone. There is no state funding available for the projects.

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