As our communities face important decisions about school building improvements, we must ensure that our approach is responsive to both critical school building needs and to citizens’ concerns. Recent developments in this process in Cape Elizabeth raise serious issues and jeopardize our schools’ long-term needs.

Two years ago, 62% of Cape voters rejected a $116 million school building bond. In response, the school board and town council together formed a School Building Advisory Committee (SBAC) made up of five citizen representatives, two Cape Elizabeth School Board members and two town councilors. The SBAC was charged with coming up with a recommendation that would garner the support necessary for passage of a bond issue.

The SBAC held numerous public meetings over 18 months, spent $1 million developing several building and repair options, and commissioned two public opinion polls. Those surveys showed the majority of residents supported a tax increase below 10%. After 18 months of work, the SBAC recommended “Option B,” which included three major aspects. First, it provided for a 36,000-square-foot addition for the elementary and middle schools; second, through renovation and replacement, it addressed every critical infrastructure need identified by the architects at all three schools; and third, it laid the groundwork to replace nearly all of the middle and elementary schools over the next 10-20 years, while retaining the newest construction that is less than 30 years old and has been found to be functionally sound.

The SBAC proposal cost $77 million (which would have been the largest locally funded school project ever approved in Maine) and respected the 10% tax increase threshold identified by the public in the polling research. (The two school board members, who favored a new middle school building, dissented, while both town council members supported this $77 million plan.) The SBAC plan would allow future investments to focus on new construction while addressing years of underfunded capital improvements immediately.

How did the school board respond? The school board, in pursuit of a new school building, rejected the SBAC recommendation without engaging the committee for any further discussion. Not one question was asked following a single 10-minute presentation. The school board then disbanded the SBAC prematurely and removed the SBAC’s members’ email access. Finally, working in private, the school board proposed a new middle school building plan, with drastic cuts to critical investments the SBAC had proposed for the high school and elementary school.

The tax impact is huge. This new plan proposes demolishing a functionally sound building, replacing it with a larger building (despite a 20% decline in enrollment) and bonding $94.7 million, resulting in a 12.2% tax increase. The school board further proposes funding an additional $9.2 million for critical repairs and upgrades through future operating budgets and speculative grant funding, leading to additional, hidden tax increases.

The prudent financial approach would have been to spread these costs over 20-30 years through bonding, as recommended by the School Building Advisory Committee. However, in an attempt to lower the perceived cost and tax impact of the middle school bond, these expenses were excluded, forcing them to be covered through the annual operating budget within a few years – ultimately placing hidden costs and a heavier burden on taxpayers than necessary.

Due to a recent townwide revaluation, many Cape Elizabeth taxpayers will see their taxes increase in October by 10%, 20%, 30% and even more. The $94.7 million bond will add an additional 12.2% tax increase to their tax bill, on top of revaluation.

The Cape Elizabeth School Board gave the SBAC a mere 10 minutes to present its recommendation, which was formed after 18 months of work. It rejected the recommendation without a single follow-up question. The school board missed an opportunity to unify our town and address critical school building needs. It repeated the divisive approach that failed in 2022. This short-sighted plan risks another defeat, leaving students, teachers and staff to bear the consequences of these unaddressed needs in all three schools.

The school board must find a path that works for everyone. Join us in voting “no” on the current proposal. Let’s work together for a solution that comprehensively addresses all of our schools’ needs while respecting taxpayers’ concerns and ensuring long-term fiscal responsibility.