November 21, 2016

 

The MSAD No. 75 Board has approved “in concept” the new Mt. Ararat High School.  In doing so, the Board set Monday, December 12, 2016 as the Second Straw Vote.  The Straw Vote will be held at 6:00 p.m. in the High School Commons.  December 14^th, Wednesday, was selected as an alternative date if needed.

 

This Second Straw Vote provides feedback to the Building Committee, School Board, and State Board of Education about the level of support for the project in the community.  If the Straw Vote is positive, the District will then seek approval from the State Board of Education in January, with a potential Referendum in March.

 

We have held numerous meetings, including recent forums in each town, to gather community input regarding unfunded components of the school. PDT, the architectural firm designing the school, shared the most recent design, which will be finalized in the next two weeks.  Nearly 100 attendees gave feedback on which items should be included or not in the project, and identified a preferred source of funding.

 

That information was given to the Building Committee, who presented their recommendations to the Board.  Among the items included for increased local funding are an additional gymnasium, 5 additional classrooms, 1 additional Science room, solar hot water and snow melt at the main entrances.  The total of all unfunded local items recommended was approximately $6.8 million, but final figures are not yet available, and are anticipated to be slightly higher.

 

The Board also received recommendations to include $121,000 in fundraising for scoreboards at the competition field, baseball field and second gymnasium.   An earlier consideration for an additional 100 seats to the forum (auditorium) have been removed from the project.

 

The Board voted to approve “in concept” the project as presented, and set the date for the Second Straw Vote as December 12^th.  It is important that all community members be aware that costs are estimates and will change as the concept and budget is finalized.

 

We truly hope for a strong turnout so we can accurately gauge the level of support that exists for these important decisions.  Additional information about the project is available on the district website, which can be accessed through any of the schools as well.

 

The direct link is: https://sites.google.com/a/link75.org/construction/home

We hope you will take the time to learn about the project and share your thoughts with us at this important step in the process.

 

Respectfully,

 

Brad Smith

Superintendent of Schools