KENNEBUNK — During the first meeting of the RSU 21 Board of Directors since voters turned down the $75 million renovation plan, residents nodded their heads as a board member noted reasons the plan may have failed.
Director Amy Johnson said she was approached everywhere from restaurants to social media to the grocery store leading up to the January vote, and said residents shared their oppositions for a variety of reasons. Voters rejected the $75 million proposal - to renovate Kennebunk High School, Mildred L. Day School and Kennebunkport Consolidated School – by a more than 2-to-1 ratio, with a total of 4,870 votes against and 2,110 votes in favor of the renovations.
“It’s everything from the turf field, they didn’t like the January vote, frankly it’s too much, they didn’t want their taxes raised, they didn’t understand the difference between the arts center and an auditorium, they didn’t like the expanded arts center plan. I think there were some people that just voted no the first time because they wanted to see what we could come up with the second time,” Johnson said. “People in the audience are nodding saying they fell into some of these categories. One of those things touched everyone in this room.”
Community members, town officials and school staff filled the meeting room at Kennebunk Elementary School, where the board met for more than two-and-a-half hours, after an hour-long work-session. The work session focused on board members’ involvement in social media and using it as a resource to share information.
Looking at ways to get a closer look on why residents voted the way they did, the board voted to explore a community survey. They also discussed holding community forums, and starting an online discussion forum.
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