In a longshot bid for financial support, the Community School District (CSD) will seek state funding for school repairs. Alternative Organizational Structure (AOS) 98 Superintendent Robert Kahler told both the school board and board of trustees April 2, the district will apply for assistance from the Maine Major Capital School Construction Funding Program.  

However, taxpayers may want to temper their expectations: According to Kahler, the program funding pool has $30 million for all projects across the state, chances of receiving funds are slim and selected schools can wait over 10 years to begin their projects. 

Both boards expressed interest in the funds, and the trustees decided to move forward with an application for a high school renovation project. However, if the April 24 middle-elementary school referendum passes, the district would move ahead with that project and not be eligible for state support, according to administrators. The boards decided to wait until the referendum results to begin that separate application. “I think we should go for our biggest, best chance for getting help,” said Trustee Ronnie Campbell. 

The move came after the CSD claimed it is ineligible for state subsidy unless educational spending more than doubles. That was incorrect, according to staff from Maine Department of Education (MDOE). In a series of emails from early March, state administrators responded to resident Desiree Scorcia, who requested an explanation as to why the CSD is ineligible for state financial support for the project. MDOE said the CSD is eligible.

“This is great news!,” Scorcia said in an email to the Register. “Here we were, thinking we’d have to foot the entire bill because of state funding formulas, and now we’ve learned that we can at least try to get state money.” 

Kahler said he made an error based on state funding rules, experience with capital projects and conversations with MDOE members and other superintendents. The CSD has since taken down the information from its website. 

“I’m embarrassed to say I was wrong, and I will be correcting that portion of the online information,” he said. “My error, my assumption, was that we would not qualify for a state-funded construction project, so I did not consider the potential of a capital project debt service adjustment tied to an approved capital project.” 

In the email chain, Scott Brown, MDOE director of school construction programs, said the district can apply to the program for a project. Paula Gravelle, MDOE director of school finance, said there is a common misconception that a minimum receiver school administrative unit, including the CSD, is not eligible; however, state formulas limit their potential project funding support.  

The oversight may not be detrimental to the CSD’s efforts, however. According to MDOE, the most recent round of applications opened late January and close Aug. 30. Applications were last opened in 2017-2018.  

Competition is stiff. Kahler said nine of 74 projects were funded from the last round of applications. He said schools that apply need state approval for their projects, which are then ranked based on criteria that focus on the school’s current conditions, verified by a site visit.  “I've worked in schools that were in the same or much worse shape (than ours) when they used to accept a lot more projects, and they didn't make it,” Kahler said. He later added, “I wouldn't hold up great hope that that's something that's going to happen.”  

The process also takes a long time. Kahler said the most recent project from the previous round recently moved forward and is expected to be completed in five years, 11 years after application; New applicants wouldn't know if their project is picked until December 2025.  

Ultimately, the boards were supportive of applying for the program but didn’t want to rely on uncertain expectations of outside help. School board member Abby Jones said she went to a “discouraging” talk years ago about the funding program. She said many towns did not get funding, and many of those that did received only a small amount. State administrators told the Register they would not know how much a district would receive until they have completed a full analysis.

However, Jones said there may be hope. “The one thing I learned from that session is that if your school is needy the first thing you should do is hire architects and hire good ones,” she said. “That’s one of the first things we did, so we’re off and running.”